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barbara newman's avatar

Oh, Jess. This broke me wide open. What came pouring out is grief and love and an enormous amount of comfort. That letter must have felt like a warm hug wrapped in purple ribbons. 💓 I’m taking in your Dad’s this/and. I’ve always believed that to be so.. I needed the reminder. Blessings to you, Jessie.

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Jessica Fein's avatar

I love that...a warm hug wrapped in purple ribbons. Thank you.

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Michaela Barnes's avatar

What an interesting, thoughtful and touching piece Jessie. I’ll be thinking about it for a while. ❤️

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Nick DiCarlo's avatar

I found your essay hauntingly beautiful when you spoke of the love you had with your father, and the things he missed out on. That is very similar to my own experience, so the words struck a deep chord. However, the AI aspect of it confirmed my darkest fears about how this could potentially play out. Once a synthetic form of humanism takes hold I fear we will lose the organic one that has bound as us as a species.

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Jessica Fein's avatar

I get that...I feel the same way....both/and. Comforted and scared.

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Lara Srinivasan's avatar

My assistant nailed it, “Jessie”. ❤️

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In a Flash Editors's avatar

Oh, Jessie. I read this in the waiting room of a doctor's office, then went into the dark hole of asking ChatGPT to write me a letter from Eric based on all the writing I've done about him. Yikes. Some of it very AI-identifiable, but still it brought tears just in time for the nurse to call me in. Agree that this is a slippery slope, one to be handled with care--or not handled at all?

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Jessica Fein's avatar

Such a slippery slope. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole. What would my sisters say to me, I asked. What would Dalia say to her brothers. None was as mind blowingly right on as my dad's but there was something in each that pierced me. I vote for handled with care rather than not handled at all.

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Casey Mulligan Walsh's avatar

Whoops! I commented with my In a Flash editor hat on but meant it to come from my personal account. Anyway—hey, it’s me! :)

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Karen Flood's avatar

Wow, this is amazing and haunting and beautiful all at the same time

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