Just one year after I wrote this post about AI and writing, ChatGPT was released into the world, threatening to disrupt so many fields from programming to copywriting.
Naturally, I had my pitchfork at the ready. AI is going to take my job! I thought. Every creative in the world is doomed!
Then I remembered I was jobless.
Anyhoo, I decided to play around with the thing and see if creative writing was really doomed to a future of algorithms or if us writers could benefit from wielding this Star Trek tech. And here’s what I’ve learned.
1. Garbage in, garbage out
You know what I like about ChatGPT? It’s that it can crank out posts faster than I can load up the WordPress editor.
I must say I’m pretty impressed, but other writers don’t share my sentiment. They say ChatGPT writes like a child and that it comes up with terrible jokes. I have no idea what prompts they were feeding it, but I’d like to think that “Why did the banana go to the doctor? Because it wasn’t peeling well” is pretty damn funny.
But you can’t just say ‘write me a story’ and expect to be happy with the results.
Speaking of being happy, we come to my next point: that a human still needs to QA the work. And since we’re all different, we’ll essentially be approving prose at different levels.
Yup, we’ll essentially leave writing behind to become editors. Some of us will be happy with 500 words of anything. Others will wring ChatGPT dry, asking it to rewrite a dozen times from multiple angles before getting what they’re happy with (so, like my previous boss).
And while I’m convinced that AI will level the playing field when it comes to output, it’s still up to the human to shape the reading experience, and you’ll need skills for that.
2. People will still flock to brands
I trawl the secondhand book groups on Facebook a lot, and there’s one thing I’ve noticed: big names will always sell, no matter the title.
Think about your consumption habits. In fact, let’s throw you into a future where the internet consists mostly of AI-generated content. What would you do then? Seek out the best robot journalists, or your favourite writer?
The moral dilemma comes when every writer uses ChatGPT as if it’s Microsoft Word, but that’s where branding comes in. It won’t matter if some rando from Tel Aviv can generate content about Stoicism, because people like Ryan Holiday will have so much more credibility on the subject, AI-enhanced or not.
This will also mean that surface-level writers will need to elevate beyond just writing, and learn complementary skills like marketing and social media management.
It’s like writing a novel and realising that having a successful authorship involves so much more than just finishing your manuscript.
3. AI has no soul. At least not yet.
After an entire month of tinkering with ChatGPT, I have to say that the results can be repetitive and uninspired at times. And it can probably receive the prompt ‘write me a joke’ so many times before coming up with that banana peel one again.
Plus, it has no bones to break, so it probably can’t tell you a story about how it fell in the bathroom and had to go to the hospital alone because it was arguing with its ex-girlfriend (oh dear, how juvenile that post was).
Nor can it tell you a story about how it cut the hair of an airline tycoon on the second day of its job (and by job I mean writer, not hairdresser).
Even as the tech improves, I suspect that there’ll still be a market for experiential posts that’ll never go away. Like hotel reviews, for example, or thoughts on a five-course meal.
That is until we come up with something like Ex Machina. Then we’re all doomed.
What I think moving forward
Looking at how fast tech is moving, I wouldn’t be surprised to have to update this post before the year is up. But as someone highly interested in the developments of AI and writing, here are my initial forecasts on the subject.
a. Writers will need to evolve
As confident as we are with our wordsmithery, there’s no denying that we’re only at the baby stages of the game. And if ChatGPT is this competent now, then writers will need to graduate from listicles (I’m screwed) or Fiverr services, because generic writing will soon be the domain of the machine.
New jobs will crop up though. Maybe there’ll be new departments for AI plagiarism. Maybe AI Handler will be a new job title. I don’t know. All I know is that social media was once seen as a waste of time. And now look at the job vacancies surrounding it.
So if you enjoy writing and want to stand out, it’s time to pivot into more specialised content. But that shouldn’t be new to you if you’ve been writing for a while.
It’s just like how SEO is a growing requirement for writers today. Like how MS Word was once a new skill you had to learn. Like how a typing speed over 60 wpm was once a job requirement.
Basically, keep adapting.
b. Writers will naturally elevate
Once the influx of fake authority arrives, gone will be the demand for Buzzfeed-like posts. And AI will only take that into overdrive.
But the technology will also allow writers to enhance their research, so what would’ve taken hours to outline could end up taking minutes. AI will also be useful as a sounding board, where novelists can discuss plot accuracy through questions like ‘will someone explode in space’.
So more and more we’ll see writers going beyond just writing and taking on research- and curation-heavy roles.
c. AI will just be another spoke in the wheel
Photoshop didn’t kill old-school illustrators. Nor did Canva kill Photoshop. And as far as technology has advanced in recent years, the demand for actual, talented artists like Kim Jung Gi (RIP) or Paul Heaston has never wavered.
Similarly, Uber didn’t kill taxis. It changed the game. You can be adamant about sticking to tradition and keeping your radio receivers and liveried cars, or you can port your trade over to the new way of ride-hailing.
No more will job applicants need to google ‘how to write a cover letter’. Instead, they can directly summon a template that they can edit. Same thing, different process.
Provided the tech remains free, that is. Which brings me to…
d. It’ll be a service
Photoshop ain’t free. Neither is MS Word. When the AI movement takes over as the search engine of the future, it’ll only be a matter of time before it becomes a money-making machine. Think of the ads. The pay-per-use. The paywalled content.
Oh, and if Google search loses its standing in the future, then SEO will cease to matter, or at the very least, we’ll be optimising for AI instead of search engines.
It’s going to be a cyberpunk future and I’m going to love it.
e. The content game will change
As more lower-level writers enter the market, more plug-and-play content will be released as is. There’ll only be so many unique posts prompted by ‘write a blog post about how to be rich’.
But that won’t matter if people use AI as a form of search, because nobody will read posts on how to start a blog when they can just ask the machine.
Because of this, content creators will need to make sure they stand out. And the best people will do it by showcasing their humanity. Since the burden of research will be lessened, it’ll be easier to come up with comprehensive long-form posts too. Which is good, since basic posts will probably be phased out.
I suspect that search engines and major tech companies might also find a way to certify content as authentically written by humans.
I might be totally wrong
At the end of the day, these are just speculations on my part, so take them with a grain of salt. I might end up being wrong, but as they say, to err is human. And there’s no better time than now to be one.
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Your Friendly Malaysian Writer 
Ai is the far greatest tool that humanity has. It do has the capability to create and destroy jobs, using it in a proper way will ensure a sustainable future
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Hello fellow Malaysian! What’s interesting is Google continues to pay bloggers having authority in their niche to create useful content for people out there, and things like that cannot be replaced by AI. I do actually feel that ChatGPT is more like an assistant that helps you pull information you intend to look for online and present to you in a easy-to-read format. However, I think human intervention is needed to personalize work deliverables
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Hello again, fellow Malaysian! What I feel is more interesting is what would happen when AI search becomes the primary way of getting information. SEO will go out the window, and Google might even be a name of the past. Exciting yet scary.
I’m also very interested in how AI and worship writing as the technology improves. Thanks for your thoughts!
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Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts! I definitely agree that it’s going to be a very interesting shift where humans become more like engineers, curators, and architects that use AI as a tool for creation. That shifts much of the focus away from the raw skillset used in creation and more in the imagination and vision that fuels it. We’re definitely in for a very interesting next few decades.
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Indeed, just as how draughtsmen have been phased out, I wonder if these developments will change the craft of writing entirely. I for one am optimistic. It’s not going to kill writers, but change how we work. Thanks for commenting!
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Love this post. This is terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
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Oh yes, and as someone who’s heavily in the content industry, I feel the same!
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Yes I believe AI is the future
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Especially when they improve beyond today’s standards!
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Fascinating and thought provoking blog post Stuart. The uproar ChatGPT has caused is a serious cause for concern.
As writers we may be thinking that we are doomed and our future as Writers and Content Creators doesn’t look promising at all as a result of this technological app called ChatGPT that can create a blog or write an essay or article very quickly within a blink of an eye and in minutes. On the surface this Chatbox is beneficial and saves humans times but the disadvantages of it can be a big problem such as laziness because people will ask this chatbox machine how to do this and that and it will reply within minutes thus people won’t see the need to do this themselves.
Lastly, I like your predictions that going forward this is what to expect: Writers will generally evolve, writers will naturally elevate, the content game will change, it will be a service and etc.. You may be wrong or right only time will tell how chatGPT will be a turning point in the lives of writers and if it will pose as a threat to jobs like writing🙌🙌
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Lol yeah, at the moment, I think the only thing left is time before we’ll be able to tell just how well AI will do in the creative arts. Because we’re not just taking today’s technology into account, but maybe 10 years down the road, where AI might very well blow our minds.
Still, I look at it as spellcheck. Just because everyone has access to spellcheck doesn’t mean they become better writers, am I right? Anyway, thanks for yet another great comment!
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Hey man, you made a great point concerning Al the truth is that the world is really advancing and everything is changing. AI tool is good because it will help to enhance your research fast but there is nothing more important than what human can do
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True that! What we used to think will never change (Google) might very well be overtaken by AI searches, so that alone is something to ponder over. Thanks for your thoughts!
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Thanks bro
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You will need more than a pitchfork to battle with the Terminator! HaHa! Every time I think about AI that movie comes to mind but now I feel it is closer to reality than I feel comfortable with. Thanks for this wonderful post. Just last week I shared on social media about AI encroaching in the audiobook arena. I don’t want a robot to read my books. It is nothing like a human to read to you.
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Your thoughts on audiobooks is why I still have hope for us humans. Because no matter how advanced AI gets, we’ll still prefer human-made creatives. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful thoughts!
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Exactly Empish , As I was reading Stuart’s blog title “ChatGPT is coming for your jobs” my mind instantly flushed back to this movie I still have in my laptop called “TERMINATOR” (released 2019) that has the greatest Actor in action scenes called “Arnold Schweitzer.
I really laughed😂😂 because this ChatGPT seems to act like a Terminator(hopefully it won’t kill us in the end)
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Yes, so true! Glad I am not the only one who is thinking along these lines.
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Hey! I’m new to blogging and would appreciate it if you could check out my blog sometime and give me a few pointers! Much appreciated! 🙏 ☺️ 🙌 😌 ❤️
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I’d definitely love to help. Just ask me any questions you may have and I’ll see if I have the answers!
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What do you think are high-rating blogs? What makes a good blog? What’s the best way to get people to follow you or respond to your blog? How long have you been doing this? I genuinely love blogging now, and some of the feedback that I have been getting back is from people insisting that my blog should be more precise. I need to find a niche and stick to it. Do you think that is true? Do personal blogs have to be all about one particular theme or is it okay to jump around a little bit? Why do you blog?
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I’m feeling old reading this, which is ok, because I am. I grew up watching the Jetsons and I’ve been waiting for this. I’m hoping teleporting happens soon.
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I wouldn’t say I’m from the Jetsons generation, but I’m not too far off. And I’m definitely in support of building teleportation as well! That’d save me sooo much time, lol.
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Very interesting thoughts! I had never heard of ChatGPT before and I’ve seen it mentioned countless times in the past week, it’s crazy! Anyway, I completely agree with your thoughts, even though I don’t necessarily like the direction things are taking. I am a firm believer in the power of the human brain and kinda fear a time where people won’t even have to think or make a small effort in order to have a decent text in front of them. Especially in schools and universities. As a translator, my job has been threatened for a few years now, but I’m happy to report that I actually still have it, even though some skills like “post-editing” are now asked in job descriptions!
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I think that we’ll always have processes we can improve on, and with each minimal step we take, we’ll be closer and closer to producing text without the need for effort. Now, we have ChatGPT to produce rough first drafts for us. In the future, we can have polished drafts with a human voice. But when we reach that stage, I think art will evolve, and it’ll be about the imperfections more than the ‘best results’.
I actually didn’t know you were a translator. But now I do!
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AI freaks me out, and it bugs me that students can get term papers written this way. Grr.
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Lol. But it’s great that teachers are starting to evolve and changing the nature of assignments. Am interested to see how this changes the education game too.
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Oh, yeah. It sure will, though I’m sure teachers are less enthused about needing to change tactics.
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As I’ve said on other blogs, people will write books they can’t read. This should remind us that many people use ghost writers. We’re still here despite them.
People will go to college and have to write. Not only, but teachers and professors will be able to catch those who use the A.I. to write their papers. Already, essay services write papers for students. Some teachers can catch these people.
I’ll probably never have the relevance or funds, but I thought of creating a business called, “Organic Books.” In my pretend business, I would only sell books by humans.
Also, there are millions of repeaters out there, especially with all the creative writing classes offered these days: ACT 1, ACT 2 blah, blah. They are unoriginal yet they pop up over and over. Take the topic of “immortality. ” These types of ideas can be shown in so many vantage points.
We’ll end up with a lot of people suing AI for crawling on their sites or taking their distinct voice away, too, I’m sure.
It turns out there are over 7 billion people on this planet. Again, we’re bound to hit the same keys every once in a while.
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The idea of people suing AI for taking away their distinct voice is also an interesting one, I think it highlights the importance of maintaining one’s originality and creativity in the face of technology advancements. At the same time, I wonder how one would objectively classify ‘voice’.
Anyhoo, I think you needn’t worry about selling books by humans, since I can’t imagine there being a market for AI stories in general. Even when computers become advanced enough to craft a story from beginning to end, I believe that humans will always find a way to set themselves apart, and perhaps what constitutes art will also shift (e.g. listicles today are considered cheap, while ten years ago they were all the rage). Thanks for your thoughts!
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I used it today when I was editing a post. I have a cold and my brain felt tired so I let an AI write a couple of sentences. It’s not something that I will use all the time, but it’s good for filler text.
The one thing that surprised me is it didn’t know me, but it knew about my website and described it accurately. I think you are very right about SEO for AI.
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That’s so cool that ChatGPT knows your website. It doesn’t know of mine, even though mine existed before its cutoff of 2021. But yeah, AI is great for filler as well as topics like mine, which don’t require 100% scientific accuracy. I’m guessing it’ll benefit some niches more than others. Thanks for stopping by, btw!
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AI won’t replace humans, but AI-enabled humans certainly will. Stand still and not change with the times and you’ll surely be left behind.
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Yep. The advancement of AI will only continue to grow, and it’s important for us to adapt and evolve with it. I find myself benefitting more by staying curious instead of looking at it as a threat. Thanks for your thoughts!
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My son asked chtgpt to write python code and he finished his assignments faster than his course mates! I ask it to write an article on howc women aged 50 to 55 could lose 1 to 5kg safely, and it produced ‘typical’ fare…this could be personalised with real experience to make the article stand out, but it was definitely faster than I could churn out! Haha….use the tech lah!
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Yeah, for those who don’t have ready knowledge on writing and editing, they may end up copy-pasting verbatim, and that’s the weakest way to use AI, in my opinion.
Used well, it can be a tool to improve our processes—just like MS Word is to longhand—instead of a full replacement.
Love your real-world examples!
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I think it will be easy for AI to take over generic sorts of content, but I don’t think writers should be too worried. Like you said, AI has no soul; if they can’t write with the humor and personal impact of human writers, I can’t see too many people flocking to them, at least not for the long run. As a teacher, my concern is students using this sort of thing to generate essays; there was a New York Times article out about that this week that was kinda interesting. They were focusing on avoiding generic prompts, which I think most teachers have adapted already. I’m sure the AI could craft “an essay on Hamlet” but bringing something more unique or personalized to the prompt can help to avoid a heard of AI-plagiarizing students. 😁
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Agreed! AI’s ability is impressive, but it lacks the personal touch of a human. This gives me some comfort as I always tell stories from a personal point of view.
And yeah, adding the personal requirement to a student’s assignments does help curtail AI use because if there’s one thing computers can’t do yet, it’s to relate something to their own life. Thanks for your thoughtful discussion, Sarah!
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I just discovered ChatGPT and I must say it been helpful. But there’s so much traffic on the site🤔. I don’t think AI is a bad thing though As a student it been helpful. we’ll just adapt and find a way around it if not passed it🤔
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Yeah, it’s always busy, isn’t it? Anyhoo, there are so many more uses for AI than we know about, and I’m excited to see how this field evolves. Already, I can see that we can drop useless formalities (like cover letters and such), which will allow us to do the more important jobs. Thanks for your thoughts!
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No worries. We’re good Stuart.
Google “reasons against ai blogging”
Blogging From Paradise is position 1 because more and more bloggers are seeing that AI will collapse. In the USA, we have laws against something called “fraud”. The fraud lawsuits that will arise like a tsunami are only a matter of time because when humans sign their name to a blog but use no-thing that does not exist to “create” the content, this is a textbook definition of fraud, or, intentionally deceiving customers. AI companies will be bankrupted by these lawsuits. Easy to see for those whose minds are not blinded by fear manifest as desperation and/or greed.
As for me, I’m grabbing some popcorn and enjoying the show LOL :)
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Yep, which is why I believe there’ll be a future where posts will either have to be ‘certified written by humans’ or not. Because we’ve opened Pandora’s Box now, and there’s no turning back. Already, I can see the black hat writers looking to exploit this.
But this could also be a good thing. With the influx of ’10 Ways To Be A Better Person’ type posts that any AI can write, people will naturally gravitate towards more personal stories. Besides, nobody would want to take meditation or workout advice from a machine, so some niches will always be bulletproof.
Here’s to popcorn eating!
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The black hats will disappear into oblivion; I’ve seen this happen many times during my 15 year blogging career. Cream rises, poop falls into the sewer.
Ryan
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Love your comment Ryan and the fact that you are unmoved and confident in yourself. That’s great, Al ChatGPT may be the new thing on the block but it won’t replace human writers with a soul and I too am watching the show without shaking in my boots😂🙌
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I’ve been playing this and I’m fascinated! I’m writing teach -fresh comp- and I throwing all kinds of things at it. Other teachers have the woe is me ..our jobs will be taken over….but, I agree with above posters. Our jobs will change. We will adapt. And quite possibly (I say with hope!) it can be used to push people to write better. IDK right now but I’m sure having fun with it personally!
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It’s great that you’re experimenting with different things! It’s true that AI may take over our jobs, but like you mentioned, we can choose to adapt—or we can complain.
I also agree that AI can push people to write better. The caveat is that the writers need the skill to best act on the suggestion. Anyhoo, do let me know if you come up with anything interesting during your fun explorations!
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Thanks bro! Such a current topic indeed. What fun times we live in ya? The other day, having heard an Ezra Klein podcast episode where the guest shared about how ‘stupid’ Chat GPT still is (for now), I took his advice and typed in this silly question: “What religion will the first female Jewish president of America adopt?” Give it a whirl for a good laugh ok? Anyway as a writer and educator, I agree that this is something we’ll need to stay ahead of and keep learning and elevating ourselves about what’s out there, so as always thanks for the reminder pal! And I think it’s true that so long as we go small and go personal in our writings and accounts, no AI no matter how smart can ever fully replicate us. So I believe fervently that our jobs will still be intact.
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Lol, the AI gave me a pretty terse reply for that president question.
And yes, you’re absolutely right that as long as we write from a personal perspective, AI will never be able to fully replicate us. Writing is a creative art, and that’s our only leg up (a good one too) at the moment.
But who knows what GPT-4 will be able to do?
Anyway, thanks as always for stopping by!
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Just the other day I heard part of a radio news article about AI and writing. I wish I’d paid greater attention. Good thing 95% of my writing is about my own personal experiences. Only I can write about that!
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Yas! That’s one thing that’s untouchable by AI at the moment. But we’ll never know. Just over a century ago, humankind couldn’t imagine electricity being cheaper than candles. I’m both afraid and excited at the same time!
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It’s not going to take over my position as a writer anytime soon.
Remember, Bitcoin and crypto were to be our new worldwide currency, and non-fungible tokens were to be the hot new market for all things creative. Going back in time, Micronet and its digitization plans were going to create a paperless office, Bill Gates predicted in 2004 that problem of spam would be solved, and in 1977 Ken Olsen of DEC Compaq said, “There’s no reason why any person would want a computer in their home.”
Solid, sane financial investing requires that you take a long-term view. I’d say the same for bets on your career and evolving technology.
ChatGPT can’t—I’ve tried it and tested it over and over again—create a personal memoir, the source of great storytelling. Its “facts” are often simply not true—operator error?
And it’s only about five minutes in internet time until all bot writing will be instantly identified and reported on all searches. The algorithms aren’t difficult to write.
I think AI content generators may evolve into—at their very best—great resource for real writers, human storytellers, and content creators with a heartbeat.
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Let me play devil’s advocate to your points there, since I love the developments in this area.
ChatGPT can’t create a personal memoir… yet. But if you feed it enough information, and take things chapter by chapter, you could get a working outline much quicker than if you were to start from scratch.
In my personal trials with fiction, I know that ChatGPT has helped me come up with ideas much quicker than if I were to brainstorm on my own. Example questions I had were “An alien race hovers above the atmosphere and attacks when it hears any sound. How does this race operate?” and “What are potential ways humans can get around this?”
The suggestions were pretty darn amazing. So already I see practical uses for ChatGPT in storytelling.
Also, AI’s writing voice could be detected if someone figures out the algorithm, and already I’ve been hearing talk about detecting ‘fingerprints’ in mechanical writing. But all it takes is a couple of tweaks here and there to render that detection moot.
Anyhoo, I love your well thought out comment, and thank you for taking this discussion to another level!
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Thanks, Stuart. I take all of your points and appreciate them. I continue to believe that AI content creation will evolve into a tool rather than becoming a writer that will challenge any senior-level authorship position or job. I’m certain that there are many low-budget houses, clickbait sites, and bots that will use such an app. I’ll hold my breath until an AI can write without using specific words that are derived from a verb yet function as a noun.
Thanks for the back-and-forth. I’m happy to know you through your posts!
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It’s funny, I finally broke into the copywriting business just as ChatGPT came on the scene. What I’ve found? No one in my sector is really worried about it. The higher-ups have tried to get it to do the kind of research/information gathering we do and about 90% of what it pumped out was wrong. Those who do technical writing or research-heavy writing don’t have much to worry about as of now. Plus, big companies are risk-averse– the current plagiarism claims are making them steer clear for now. So, at the very least, we’ve got a bit before we have to worry about robots taking over!
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Yeah, it probably won’t work for some industries, since it has a knowledge gap of recent years. And I’ve always believed that if enough people in the same industry relies fully on ChatGPT, they’re bound to produce similar content, jokes and all. But then GPT-4 is going to be released and our minds will be blown. Or that’s what I think, at least.
For now? The best use for ChatGPT is to make sure we don’t start with a blank page, and for many writers, that’s good enough.
Thanks so much for your insightful conversation!
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As I approach the end of my career, there’s one thing I can say hasn’t changed in my 40 years in the workforce: you have to adapt to survive. I remember a day when we had typewriters in the office and I had a secretary to answer my calls and type my letters. Guess what? They gave me a phone with voicemail, and a PC to type my own letters, and got rid of the secretary! My point is that anyone who tries to cling to old methods and ways of working will become a dinosaur. And we all know what happened to the dinosaurs! As with any new tool or technology, smart people will figure out how to use it to their advantage. As for the rest…we’ll be seeing them in the next Jurassic Park sequel.
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My mother was a secretary, so I’ve seen the industry evolve before my eyes. It wasn’t long before my mother brought home electronic typewriters to finish her job. Before that, I remember her preparing for shorthand examinations. To be frank, I wish I knew shorthand today. Would help a lot with my analogue writing.
Anyhoo, back to your amazing point. Yes, we all have to adapt. I remember writers only needing to write, and that was barely 10 years ago! Now, writers are expected to know social media, SEO, and how to advertise on Facebook, among many other things.
What a lovely discussion you brought here, Michelle. I appreciate it!
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Yup, I did shorthand in school. I even wrote a blog post about it when I found my textbook while decluttering. I have never used it once since leaving school.
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beam me up scotty or throw me to the dogs. I am finally getting the hang of things and then it changes once again. I’m all for change but most of them seem to require a learning edge that throws me over the edge.
I’m afraid you’re right Stuart! 💞
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We might approach singularity—the point where technology develops so quickly that we won’t be able to keep up—and find that we’ll need to go back to the unwired life to find some type of equilibrium. Then we’ll be coming back full circle, right to where we started, which means adapting would’ve been a waste of time. That’s an optimistic take on it, at least! Haha.
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Love your take Stuart! Take time till next time!!! ❤️
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Soon, “shop small” will become “hire human”. It’s the new marketing trend that everyone will hop on blindly.
And you are correct, some of these programs are scarily effective but they still require a human to operate them. And what happens when the machine breaks down? I do work as a VA and was an Office Manager for a few years. Computer programs only work as well as your internet connection or software program. When those break, guess who usually steps up? Your average, everyday human. Usually in the form of an already overworked administrative assistant or business owner somewhere.
Of course, as you point out, there will always be writers for whom there can be no substitute. Being a classic book blogger at least a third of the time I’m writing for my blog, I can almost guarantee that no AI program will ever be able to replace good writing. If it could, then the likes of Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, J. R. R. Tolkien, and William Shakespeare wouldn’t still be dominating the writing game. And will continue to dominate the writing game for years to come.
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I love your point of view, and would like to add on to the classic writing bit. Already, ChatGPT can write in an author’s voice if you ask it to. It’s not that good now, but time will only tell if GPT-4 will blow that out the water.
Still! I share your sentiment that no AI will replace good writing. Also, that’s because we’re human and crave connection through storytelling. It just feels meh to read something written by AI, no matter how well-written it is.
Am loving your thoughtful comment. Thanks so much for adding so much value to the conversation!
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Love your take on ChatGPT, Stuart. Funny, well-argued and written like a human who can appreciate things with perspective and imagination. Well done!
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Let’s just hope it stays this way and that I don’t succumb to the easy-ness that these tools can bring. Can’t promise once GPT-4 is released! Lol.
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I remember that post on AI and writing, can’t believe it’s been a year! Anyway, thank you for your interesting and insightful thoughts, as always. I haven’t tried using AI writing software yet – mainly just because I’ve been learning so many new writing skills over the past year anyway and haven’t had room in my brain to tinker with something else – but I am curious. I don’t think AI will ever best human creativity, but as you mentioned, I think it can be used as a tool to make writing more efficient for us. Thanks for another great post! :)
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Right? Every time I see how quickly time passes, I’m worried that I’m not doing enough.
I definitely suggest that you give ChatGPT a whirl, because it’s unlike any other AI programme thus far, in its natural replies or accessibility. At the very least, try using it instead of Google for your daily questions.
It definitely has a place in a writer’s toolbox, so I hope you find some uses out of it! Until they start charging for it, that is, lol.
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I went to go try it today and apparently it was full/overloaded or whatever 😞 Hopefully I’ll have better luck tomorrow!
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Perhaps I shouldn’t have laughed at the part “Then I remembered I was jobless.” Because so am I, so that’s probably why I thought that was funny!
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Lol, I’ve already laughed at myself so all’s good. I have no right complaining about AI taking my job if I’m not holding one down in the first place, amirite?
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I expect publishers to use AI to decide if your manuscript is a best seller adn they should publish it. Then comes the AI Editor….
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Gosh that’d totally revamp the publishing industry. Provided they reach a level where they’re fully reliable. I can definitely imagine that, giving the AI editor the first pass, then having a human proofread it.
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I remember the days when “they” said the internet would end writing all together. I laughed then. I laugh now. We still need solid skills in reading and writing. My hope is that it will make us stronger.
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Oh yeah. My hope is that it identifies gaps in our creative processes so that we may address them. e.g. I foresee weak writers who copy AI verbatim having problems once it’s time to interact with others through writing.
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I think you’re on target with your analysis, Stuart. It shouldn’t really be a surprise. Technology is changing the way we work. In some ways, I’m. surprised that the AI technology hasn’t moved faster. I think the smart thing is to get ahead and adapt and figure out how to use it wisely. I think your comparison to photoshop and other tools is spot on and a healthy way to look at the issue. At least, that’s the approach, I’m trying to take. Thanks for the post.
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Always good to see the positive side of technological advancement, amirite? No point resisting. It’s going to continue developing, with our without our approval. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Brian. Here’s to staying ahead of the curve!
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Impressed is good until you realize that it has no idea what it is saying. It cannot distinguish truth from fact:
One of 5 interesting facts about Exclamation marks straight from ChatGPT:
“The exclamation mark is also used in some emoticons, such as “:)” to indicate a happy face and “:D” to indicate a big grin.”
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Lol yeah. It really doesn’t know what it’s saying since it’s just a text autocomplete machine. But give it time and a connection to the internet, and it will probably do some amazing things where research is concerned. And if it doesn’t develop enough, then my job is safe. Win-win!
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That’s a pretty interesting and new take on AI. Thanks for sharing!
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And thank you for stopping by!
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You’re welcome!
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I think AI is going ot be something super interesting that will play out much faster than we anticipate. I do agree that writers will have to evolve but I have been using Chat GPT to help me think more clearly. Sometimes I will ask the AI questions just to spur up inspiration for a twitter thread or to follow its “line of thinking”.
I read a book a couple years ago called the Soverign Individual (highly recommend if you like tech and knowing the impacts the internet will have on the world good & bad) that spoke about AI briefly! We live in a crazy timeline that is only going to get even crazier! Love it
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Oh yeah. AI works awesome as a sounding board! In fiction, it helps me think of possible plot points that I may have missed. Or I could feed it my plot and ask it for more places I could insert conflicts.
Sometimes it’s not about using AI for the final product, but for the idea generation. All it takes is for me to read one idea to trigger a whole new idea that I can instead use for my work. I have zero interest in getting AI to do the writing for me. Am definitely curious to see how other creatives approach this.
Thanks for stopping by as always!
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I think those that get AI to do the writing for them are completely missing the point of the tool… plus I think Google and other search engines like YouTube know how to spot AI generated content so they will definitely be penalized in the future
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I loved this, Stuart — and the comparisons you drew to other ‘tools’ – Photoshop/Canva…Uber/Taxis…good stuff. And I appreciate the evolutionary vs. revolutionary aspects. I can embrace a lot if I’ve got time to mull and ponder…vs. having things shoved at me in a forced choice way. And…thank you for the fun disclaimers at the end of your post. Mostly human content. Ah! I aspire to mostly human! Cheers! 😉😉😉
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I’m grateful to be one of the last generations to have witnessed the pre-to-post internet era, because that gives me so much more optimism for new tech.
Nothing will ever kill us outright, except the refusal to adapt. I guess that’s where our strength as humans lie. Love your comment, btw!
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Thanks for your post, Stuart! So good! 😉
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Some interesting thoughts and points here, Stuart. I would assume that the amount of money being pumped into AI technology, platforms like Chat GPT are here to stay, at least in the short term. They will be adapted and developed in time, much like computers. You are right in that writers will need to adapt. I have tried a few free trials of a number of AI apps and can see how they could help writers experiencing blocks, or writing in more specialised areas.
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They’re really effective to get over writer’s block that’s for sure. It’s almost as if the release from the lower-level tasks of writing allows writers to just express themselves. I know it’s helped me a lot with my process. Maybe that’ll shine a light on how creatives operate, and improve the industry as a whole. Thanks for your interesting thoughts!
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I think I won’t worry about losing a job, writing or otherwise, until we are at the end of the century, by which point I would be an old man, and it won’t be my problem by then.
To be honest though, I really like what Chat GPT has to offer for programmers, I was just writing a post about it, before I actually got here for ahem. Distractions.
As for humanistic posts, I think there is only one Tanish in this world, just like there is only one Stuart in this world, both of them have their unique experiences due to their different lives, and no machine can copy it for now.
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I am actually super curious how it’ll change the programming field. I mean, programmers already google a lot, so this would only be an extension to it. But to have specific code already written for them to edit? That might be a great improvement for the workflow.
I myself can’t take entire chunks and simply edit a few words for writing though. It just doesn’t jive well with my writing process. But as an idea generator, AI is super helpful.
And yes, there’s only one of us, which means personal stories are always the best way to go!
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The programming part is awesome. With Google, you have to deal with popularity: if your language is not popular, then you won’t get solutions for your language. At worst you’ll get something which is barely related with it, but after wasting your time, you’ll realize that it is not what you’re looking for.
But with Chat GPT, you get what you ask for. True, there might be mistakes every now and then, but it can be quite specific.
As for editing, I think editing and fixing bugs in the code is much easier compare to generated text for some article or whatever you have in mind related with writing.
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Interesting take on the subject. As a student, I find ChatGPT to be a reasonably competent tool – but as a writer, I find it sad and fascinating at the same time how well AI can write off a prompt. “Basically, keep adapting.”
I think that’s just about sums it up!
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It’s pretty amazing, since you can prompt it to write like specific authors. I found that to be fun to play with. I hope that when AI gets an internet connection, that I’ll one day be able to ask it to evaluate my work, or describe my writing voice to me, or something of that sort. Interested to see how it goes!
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I believe that AI is a tool. You’re absolutely right about Garbage in, Garbage out. Will AI take over my job? Not until Baymax becomes an actual, real-life robot.
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I guess even if AI takes over our jobs, that just means we’ll be able to move on to the next step. The job market will change, and we’ll continue to grow as a species i.e. similar to the Industrial Revolution. Thanks for your thoughts!
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I don’t think AI is a bad thing. I agree that we will need to adjust and embrace change in the upcoming years. AI still has a long way to go before our jobs get replaced, so I think it’s safe to say that we’ll probably be okay.
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