Maybe my Luddite side is coming out. The reality is that there’s a limited number of stories and good authors just learn how to tell them better and make them their own. While an AI system can crank out reams of words your own tests showed the creative stories had elements of good writing but didn’t pull in the reader.
Will AI writing be used for commercial purposes like writing manuals, probably yes. If the goal is to crank out good enough writing for a commercial purpose, then AI will likely win the day. When it comes time for engaging original writing, like any other art form, there’s value to the human creator. As a writer I get joy from the act of writing and the slow polishing of my stories, especially when they connect with readers. That alone makes it worth my time and efforts.
I find your forays into AI fascinating and cheer you on, yet at the same time I’m happy to be a spectator and have zero interest in pursuing AI writing myself. Perhaps one day I’ll change my mind. For now I’ll enjoy being a happy Luddite.
Love that perspective, Bruce. I think it's a healthy outlook to have.
Even if you have no plans of learning AI writing or using it in anyway, I think it's important to be knowledgeable and open about it. It's the defining technology of this generation, and while I believe it has a big potential for good, it also has an equally significant potential to be used for harm.
Many writers who are actively against AI refuse to have anything to do with it, and I think that's dangerous. Not just individually, but as a society. We don't want to be blindsided by such a powerful technology as AI.
In another point, I agree with you that AI is much better utilised for commercial purposes. But I believe that it also can be a very powerful tool to amplify your creative voice.
"you might be as bad at writing prompts as you are at writing in general." 😂
On a different note, I have a chat dedicated to writing stories of different futures of my life. I started the chat as a way to try to stop catastrophizing when under a lot of stress. Its great for showing me possibilites that would never otherwise crossed my consciousness. And often quite fun.
At some point I'll share a Substack post with more information plus an example.
I think the stories have helped in two ways. First, just seeing all the different variations of where the current path could go has put an end to the catastrophizing in my "future trips". The second is some of the business ideas are things I can get excited about acting on. Hmmm...time to ask Chat to give me a consolidated list. :-)
I think the best part of writing with AI is it helps me find the words to say the things I want to say. I write better with AI. My human side can't remember a word (and this just keeps getting more common with every birthday) and so me, by myself? I find a word I can remember. With AI, I can find the word I wanted, and a dozen others that might fit even better than the one I could not quite recall. But I don't think AI will ever beat human writing without a human partner... it needs us to tell it what to say. It helps us say it better and faster.
While I believe good prompting can make AI generate much better text, I would never claim the output is perfectly human-looking. And humans simply like to read human-looking text. When you stay in charge of the process yourself, you can easily add that missing element. James likes to call this your "unpromptable voice".
I would claim that it's still possible AI will ultimately have that capability, letting us prompt the unpromptable. Until then, that unique voice is what sets us apart.
I think the day AI will have that capability, essentially to create its own "unpromptable voice" -- is the day it becomes sentient and self aware. If ever. Then, the AI-ness of my writing would probably be the least of my concerns 😂
Maybe my Luddite side is coming out. The reality is that there’s a limited number of stories and good authors just learn how to tell them better and make them their own. While an AI system can crank out reams of words your own tests showed the creative stories had elements of good writing but didn’t pull in the reader.
Will AI writing be used for commercial purposes like writing manuals, probably yes. If the goal is to crank out good enough writing for a commercial purpose, then AI will likely win the day. When it comes time for engaging original writing, like any other art form, there’s value to the human creator. As a writer I get joy from the act of writing and the slow polishing of my stories, especially when they connect with readers. That alone makes it worth my time and efforts.
I find your forays into AI fascinating and cheer you on, yet at the same time I’m happy to be a spectator and have zero interest in pursuing AI writing myself. Perhaps one day I’ll change my mind. For now I’ll enjoy being a happy Luddite.
Thanks, Bruce! There's something to say for adding a Luddite's perspective to all AI-positive content.
The most fascinating part of my own AI journey so far has been discovering people's different approaches and finding out what works.
For example, James Presbitero suggests generating core facts for your articles first and adding opinions later.
Other example: A while back, Kenneth E. Harrell posted a big prompt to make your characters 'come alive' by letting the AI take on their roles.
The possibilities are endless. Some things turn out to be perfectly useless, but even those can be fun.
By the way, this guest post is probably not my most nuanced piece, but I hope the little robots make up for it 😄
Love that perspective, Bruce. I think it's a healthy outlook to have.
Even if you have no plans of learning AI writing or using it in anyway, I think it's important to be knowledgeable and open about it. It's the defining technology of this generation, and while I believe it has a big potential for good, it also has an equally significant potential to be used for harm.
Many writers who are actively against AI refuse to have anything to do with it, and I think that's dangerous. Not just individually, but as a society. We don't want to be blindsided by such a powerful technology as AI.
In another point, I agree with you that AI is much better utilised for commercial purposes. But I believe that it also can be a very powerful tool to amplify your creative voice.
"you might be as bad at writing prompts as you are at writing in general." 😂
On a different note, I have a chat dedicated to writing stories of different futures of my life. I started the chat as a way to try to stop catastrophizing when under a lot of stress. Its great for showing me possibilites that would never otherwise crossed my consciousness. And often quite fun.
At some point I'll share a Substack post with more information plus an example.
Cool! That's a very interesting use of it. Can you tell if it really helped?
I think the stories have helped in two ways. First, just seeing all the different variations of where the current path could go has put an end to the catastrophizing in my "future trips". The second is some of the business ideas are things I can get excited about acting on. Hmmm...time to ask Chat to give me a consolidated list. :-)
I think the best part of writing with AI is it helps me find the words to say the things I want to say. I write better with AI. My human side can't remember a word (and this just keeps getting more common with every birthday) and so me, by myself? I find a word I can remember. With AI, I can find the word I wanted, and a dozen others that might fit even better than the one I could not quite recall. But I don't think AI will ever beat human writing without a human partner... it needs us to tell it what to say. It helps us say it better and faster.
This makes sense.
While I believe good prompting can make AI generate much better text, I would never claim the output is perfectly human-looking. And humans simply like to read human-looking text. When you stay in charge of the process yourself, you can easily add that missing element. James likes to call this your "unpromptable voice".
I would claim that it's still possible AI will ultimately have that capability, letting us prompt the unpromptable. Until then, that unique voice is what sets us apart.
I think the day AI will have that capability, essentially to create its own "unpromptable voice" -- is the day it becomes sentient and self aware. If ever. Then, the AI-ness of my writing would probably be the least of my concerns 😂
Interesting piece.
Thank you!