My dad used to write calligraphy for a living. His forte was translating non-Chinese names into Chinese characters and writing them on fans.

Thing is, I actually forgot how good he was at his craft.

Thankfully, conscience pricked me this year. The end of the school year brings with it the Great Wind Shuffle. Colleagues whom I work closely with and feel genuine affection for will be posted out to other schools. So, no matter how busy I am, I must find time to give them a parting gift.

But I didn’t think of personalised fans at first. I was planning to buy Starbucks gift cards because I didn’t know how my non-Chinese colleagues would take to the idea of such traditional gifts. Eventually, I decided to take a chance because what could be cooler than having your name expertly handwritten in sexy novel characters?

So, I enlisted my dad’s help last night. I was actually apprehensive that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill my request. How myopic I was! Not only did he accept my last-minute request like it was the most natural thing in the world, he also gave me these fans a day later. THE VERY NEXT DAY!

His efforts exceeded my expectations. These translated names were imbued with so much positive meaning that I’m sure it would put a smile on my colleagues’ faces.

It’s a poignant reminder that in this age of Generative AI, there is still value in honing your skills at something and becoming so good at it that it becomes your life’s work. There is now a shift from creating original content to creating effective prompts so that ChatGPT can help you produce original content. ChatGPT can probably translate my colleagues’ names, but would it be able to do so with as much humanity as my dad?

I doubt so.