This prompt was given by Ms Meenal Mathur for the StoryTellers BlogHop S5:

"If you could create an AI clone of yourself to tackle all your writing tasks, what would you name it and why?" I am grateful for the question. Here is my response.

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Let us assume, as a simple thought experiment, that I do obtain [or am provided with] an exact clone of myself. Theoretically, it would double my creative output in all avenues of expression: words, videos, thought.

But think deeper. Since it is my exact clone, it would replicate my mind. That means it would write, act, and think exactly as I already do. That is not what the intention of this cloning is, is it? It might work on farmed animals, but it is not what the doctor ordered [or the prompt suggested].

This is easily overcome by introducing slight differences in personality, or the ability to learn independently. Therein lies the rub: is it a clone?

It is parallel to the Ship of Theseus philosophical question: is a ship still the same if all its parts have been replaced with exact replicas over time? It functions as the original one, yes, but is it the same ship?

As with many rhetorical logic problems, the answer is both: yes and no.

My clone, if exact, is useless in terms of creativity. Yes, it could replace me and perform actions that I, the original, would have found tedious. But will it improve my life? And let's leave the real-life difficulties of sustaining an entire person through life apart: we are just thinking here.

Of course, science fiction gives us umpteen examples of clones gone wrong, both comedically and seriously. Some works of art take this concept further, exploring mass cloning and replaceable humans.

But ultimately, and to avoid brain burnout, we return to the light-hearted question posed by the host of our StoryTellers' BlogHop.

I would name my AI writing clone Axat. It will confuse people, to my eternal delight, and let me get away with murder [figuratively speaking, of course]. Plus, I will get to keep all the massive royalties [I'll assume clone Axat needs no upkeep] and bask in the awards I'll win! Ciao!