Darwin took the best part of 20 years to publish his ideas on natural selection. There has been a lot of speculation as to why he took so long. We here at the Sandwalk have some ideas….
Darwin loved to write. He wrote books. He scribed copious numbers of letters to people all around the world. And yet he took such a long time to complete his signature work.
I’m not sure what Darwin would have made of generative AI. I doubt that he would have been impressed, especially at the moment where it only repackages ideas and does not create new one.
Still he might have impressed in certain aspects. I prompted ChatGPT to re-write the previous two paragraphs in the style of Darwin.
“It may be observed that Darwin possessed a profound affinity for the act of writing. His pen gave birth to numerous volumes, and through his hand flowed an unceasing correspondence with individuals spanning the globe. Yet, despite this prolific output, it is curious to note the extended period required for the completion of his most seminal work.”
“As to the advent of generative artificial intelligence, one might surmise that Darwin, ever the champion of originality and slow, deliberate thought, would have regarded such a tool with a measure of skepticism. For while this technology can indeed aggregate and reorganize information, it does not yet appear capable of producing the truly novel insights that arise from deep reflection and careful study—those hallmarks of evolutionary progress in the realm of ideas.”
Hmmm that might have saved him some time! Or maybe he would have used it for entertainment. What about some tardy Darwin jokes prompted from ChatGPT (although one is created by me – can you guess?):
‘It took Charles Darwin over 20 years to write On the Origin of Species. I guess he was evolving his ideas… very slowly!’
‘It took Darwin over 20 years to write On the Origin of Species. Talk about natural procrastination!’
‘Why did it take so long for Darwin to write On the Origin of Species? Maybe he was worried about natural rejection!’
‘Darwin spent 20 years writing his book. I guess even evolution needed a few extra drafts.‘
‘Charles Darwin took two decades to finish On the Origin of Species—he was just letting the ideas adapt!‘
‘Darwin took 20 years to write his book. I guess survival of the fittest applies to writers’ block too!’
‘It took Darwin so long to write On the Origin of Species, you’d think he was waiting for the manuscript to evolve itself!‘
Not bad. I think that we might not have received the Origin any earlier if Charles had enjoyed playing around with AI.