It’s an AI world we’re in, and I think it's better to explicitly state a position (even if nobody cares.)
AI - specifically, generative AI and the kind that can write things - is an earth-shattering technology. I am firmly of the camp which believes AI will be disruptive in a way no other technology has been. AI already encroaches on my day job in ways I would never have predicted.
I’m mostly agnostic as to whether or not AI will one day be able to “write” as well as people. It’s not there yet. It can produce language which is clear and even beautiful, but I have yet to see it produce a cohesive and engaging narrative of the same caliber as a talented writer. I think that, most likely, the day will come when that changes.
I also think it doesn’t matter. The audience who demands strictly-human writing will shrink, but it is the audience I am interested in. AI will one day (soon. Already?) produce art and music which is phenomenal. You’re not bad or wrong to enjoy it, but it is wrong let it to force out the humans doing the same kind of art.
My writing is my own. If a word or sentence appears on a page I have published, then that word or sentence originated with me. I do not use AI to write for me, or edit my written work.
I do, however, think AI can be useful toward a writing project. It is a good research tool, a good(ish) fact checker. It can answer questions about formatting, and industry, and give you ideas of places to submit. It can make images to help you hone your ideas. It can give you a pep talk when you’ve just re-read your writing and think that you suck.
I believe it is OK to use AI to work through ideas. The core of any idea should end with the writer, but discussing or exploring a topic with AI strikes me as fundamentally similar to discussing it with another person, winding down a Wikipedia rabbit-hole, or getting writing prompts. Others will disagree. To get any degree of inspiration or “thought” from an AI requires personal intellectual honesty. I am both comfortable and confident in the limited role AI plays in this space.
Writing is a craft, and I think it should be treated as such. Tools exist to help you explore the craft, and they should be used responsibly. But when a tool takes over the craft you’ve sacrificed something important.
- Arlo