Background:

People occasionally keep a diary or journal as in order to record the events of their life and, ideally, reflect on them in a positive manner.

The Issue:

Unfortunately, the process of keeping a diary requires discipline and dedication. It can be easy for someone to get out of the routine of keeping a diary, and it may seem daunting or impossible to get back into the habit.

Proposal:

Fortunately, the world’s greatest scientists have now devised a diabolical machine that is capable of writing like a human!

Let’s use this incredible power to make a new system (Figure 1) that will make diary-writing easier.

The way this will work is simple: first, the “Auto Diary” system is given access to the user’s calendar, email, text messages, map location data, and other relevant accounts.

Then, a diary entry can be created by simply running a prompt like the following (where the user’s personal information is pasted in): “Write a diary entry for the events of [Date]. This diary entry should introspect on the following events of the day: Calendar: Dentist, 11 AM. Lunch with Sam, 12:30 PM. I wrote this email: “Joe, the snake shipment hasn’t arrived yet. Can you follow up with shipping & receiving. Map: I went to Starbucks at 4 PM.”

Let’s see how something similar to this would work with the Google Gemini AI system:

PROMPT:

Please introspect on my life by writing a sample diary entry. I am an American with a 9-to-5 office job. I like TV and regular hobbies. The sample diary entry should be two paragraphs.

RESPONSE:

Another day, another grind. The office is starting to feel like a second home, even if the decor is less inviting. I find myself on autopilot, navigating emails and spreadsheets with a sense of detached familiarity. It's a comfortable routine, but sometimes, a nagging doubt creeps in. Am I truly fulfilling my potential? Is there more to life than this endless cycle of work and leisure?

The evenings offer a reprieve, filled with the comforting glow of the television and the familiar rhythm of hobbies. It's a safe space, a predictable escape. But as the credits roll and the projects near completion, a void begins to form. Is this all there is? Are these distractions enough to fill the hours, days, and years? Or is there a deeper longing for something more, something that ignites a spark within?

Not bad! It has kind of a film-noir-detective quality to it. We could also add another prompt to reduce the ennui and existential dread, if necessary. Or increase it!

Conclusion:

This system is basically already ready for production use!

PROS: Makes diary writing effortless!

CONS: This raises a question: if “you” keep a diary (but it’s really the computer writing it), but you never actually read it, did you even keep a diary at all? Truly, a question for philosophers and sages.

Originally published 2024-08-05.