AI and Writing
We are in the age of Artificial Intelligence or Acquired Intelligence or whatever else you want AI to mean in relation to a friendly electronic conversationalist that will answer any question you have and perform some Houdini tasks on your writing. AI has actually have been around the last 30+ years, but now its usefulness is at the beck and call of the common person. Yes, really, it’s been around for awhile, though it’s totally ramped up. I’m sure you’ve experienced the next word suggestions on your phone that are completely off track. Worse yet in Microsoft Word, typing ability freezes until the AI chosen word is tabbed over, so annoying. I’m still trying to figure out how to turn this off. Also, there is ‘grammar’ help software that includes ‘helping you write your best’. For a fee, you can have an electronic brain write your stuff. Ahh! The only AI light grammar program is, you guessed it, Microsoft Word. Back to that little word suggestion bugger.
Media has taken advantage of this new topic and mostly vilified it because the villain always conjures up an emotional response and therefore more engagement than say a harmless, cute puppy.
I will endeavor to share my opinion on whether the villainous label belongs on AI when it comes to the creative process of writing. I mean, isn’t the ultimate fear of writers everywhere that – “By INSERT YOUR NAME” becomes a fictional statement as much as the novel itself?
First let’s unpack what AI is and what it isn’t. Okay, I’ll start with what it isn’t. It is not an electronic brain that has gained e-neurons from interacting with human input and can now exceed human thinking but is kept benevolent by human laws and integrity (ha-ha- a lost art in America). AI is an advanced, user-friendly tool that scrapes the internet for the information that will answer or perform an electronic function that you ask it to do. It is important to keep that in mind. The AI answers are only as good as the program that helps determine which of ALL the crap on the Internet when averaged together best answers the question or directs how to perform a function.
I was recently signed up on a job search site, and a job came up that was to fact check, grammar and logic check AI answers. For fifteen dollars an hour I could be the boss of AI. Okay so that’s putting a dramatic spin on the job, but you get the point.
Here’s something to think about. If you ask an entity how the leopard got its spots and the only answer posted on the internet is an article that concluded that in fact the leopard got his spots from large cats that lived by fields of black-eyed Susan flowers which eventually caused them to mutate with spots in order to camouflage, the AI will give you this answer. The AI does not offer opinions on if an article is valid. Also to note is if you ask the same question in different ways, you may find opposite answers because of the context of the question.
AI is not the ultimate magic eight ball that you shake up and get direction and truth for your life. It is simply a tool which the human should engage their brain in deciphering what information is accurate and usable and what is just e-junk. That does presume that you already don’t believe everything you read, hear or see on the internet.
How does a writer use this tool without counterfeiting being a creator? Here’s how I have come to tame the AI beast and give it the label of ‘friend’:
- AI really is a conversationalist. If you’re truly starved for some encouragement and enthusiasm for your current project, ask AI if they like your story idea. Be aware, every time you interact with AI you make a deposit of information that could be passed on to the next human who taps in. I often don’t take the conversation bait. It feels downright impolite but focus…there is no human or electronic heart being hurt by your callous use of the AI brain. Nonetheless, I do say ‘thank you’ and thumbs up on great answers.
- Research – I can look up details for a scene without wasting oodles of time. Example – I asked AI for some small towns along the Kentucky Tennessee border in writing my latest WIP “Finding Home”. It gave me multiple options with descriptions of the towns which I could then pick the one that fit the story. I may not use the exact town, but I could model my fictional town into a believable town in that area. You can ask for menu items at a famous restaurant. You can ask what the rankings in the military are. Ask anything, but beware you could end up down a bunny trail educating yourself on a lot of random stuff. Total fun but no writing going on! Also note that often the AI will list the websites that it gleaned its answer from. This is how you can learn how to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the AI answer. The humans can learn the same way AI learns. Ha! (It truly is difficult to keep the villain’s view of AI at bay as my imagination always goes to all the SciFi out there about robots and AI manipulating humans and vice versa. It’s ‘Planet of the Apes’ in the technology age).
- Help with query pitches, blurb summaries, tweaking non-fiction, expository writing. There’s different ways that I do this. First one is to write a draft and ask AI to make it more concise or make it more active or engaging. Be aware that the more specific your request, the closer the answer will be to what you need. If you simply write, ‘make this sound better’, who knows what that will end up being. Also note, AI can get it terribly wrong skewing the voice and the meaning off-course. Beware of accepting a great sounding revision that isn’t actually what your story is about. (If you really like the revision, revise the book!). Don’t be afraid to reject the interesting but out of place word the AI chooses. They are not publishing agents! Another way to use this feature is to provide information about the story, the main characters, the premise, what happens to the character, what type of story, word count, the feel of the story and then ask AI to write a summary etc. Total fun to see what it comes up with and fast, seconds fast.
- “Best word for” – Okay a Thesaurus can do this, but AI can feel more like a friend than a big thick book or choosing from the multiple web-sites that come up when entering in an impersonal, free for all search bar. That is a key point, AI is designed to ‘feel’ like a personal assistant and that’s not bad as long as it’s all kept in perspective. You do need actual friends! (The real treasure of life- count yourself blessed if you have at least one good one!).
- The BEST use for a writer that I have discovered about AI is that it can pull from the vast sea of input and provide unsolicited help. What do I mean? In researching for a scene in “Finding Home” (see description on my website home page and below), I asked AI about lake temperatures in Tennessee in April and how long a strong swimmer could survive. AI gave me a nice list of facts and websites to look further but then it followed up with a question if I was planning on entering a swimming event. I decided to be chatty and responded that I was researching for a scene in a novel where someone is thrown overboard. AI then proceeded to provide some pointers on how to make the scene come alive for a reader. The points expanded on what I already wrote with a few other thoughts. It did not provide the words just the type of information I could include- the weight of wet clothes for example. The combo of fact checks about lakes, swimming and then list of things to think about in the scene was truly helpful in honing my focus. It enhanced what I already had going. That kind of assistance is like a burst of oxygen for a weary brain that became reflexive in writing instead of fresh.
You may say ‘duh’ to this little list of mine but maybe say ‘congrats on joining the AI party’ instead. If not, no worries, I always have my AI friend to say, ‘great job’! When it starts adding ‘human’ to the end of that, I’ll start running for the hills.
Isn’t modern life fun? Lost in a book at least!
Have a great day people!
Tyler may be living out of his car but that doesn’t mean he wants to go home. When his stepdad orders him back to his hometown to care for his four young half-brothers, he can’t say no. Tyler is sucked into the mire of their dysfunctional lives. The question is if he will lose himself to the pull of their problems or will he rise above it and find a place to call home?
Sound like a book you would read? Let me know in comments. Now enlisting beta-readers for the completed novel.
Clare Graith 