Whatever type of writing you do, and whatever stage you're at with your writing, you've probably got some opinions about AI (artificial intelligence).
The concept of AI has been around for a long time: it was 1950 when Alan Turing published his
landmark paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" which devised the Turing Test. (Essentially, the Turing Test posits that if a human can't tell the difference between conversing with a machine and conversing with another human, then we can say the machine is "thinking".)
Fast forward to 2022, when ChatGPT was first released, and generative AI became accessible to anyone. ChatGPT has,
as you might guess from the name, a "chat" style interface. It's like having a conversation over text.
I tried out ChatGPT early on, and thought it was fun, but it produced generic, stilted text. Two and a half years on, and it's improved massively. A lot of companies are using ChatGPT (and other similar tools) to write blog content, create social media posts, transcribe audio/video, carry
out basic research, analyse data, and even write computer code.
So what does all this mean for writers?
Understandably, a lot of writers feel strongly that AI should not be used for writing. They're concerned about AI-written
books taking sales from them ... and I don't think this is an invalid concern. AI has certainly been disrupting the freelance writing world, and I imagine many transcribers are now out of work.
Writers are also angry that AI has been trained on written works without consent, with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain describing this as "piracy on an industrial scale" that has left "many authors feeling angry, frustrated and powerless".
Other writers feel more
neutral, or even positive, about AI. They see it as a tool to take over some of the more rote parts of writing ... for instance, if you want to create a quick summary of something you've written or adapt it for a different form (e.g. summarise a blog post for LinkedIn), AI's very handy for that.
And some writers may not be keen on AI, but they're resigned to it!
Here's how I see things:
AI isn't going away.
Many writers (and publishers) will use generative AI tools, not just assistive AI tools like Grammarly and
ProWritingAid.
Most of those people, however, won't be using AI to actually do the writing. Instead, they'll use it as a tool to help them write faster and/or better.
ChatGPT isn't going to write a whole novel any time soon. (For more on that, take a look at my article on
Will AI Write Novels?)
But ChatGPT and similar tools are genuinely useful for tasks like:
- Brainstorming and developing ideas: you can ask an AI for writing prompts, for instance, or tell it an idea you're working on and ask it to help you come up with a whole list of related ideas.
- Editing your work. I'd highly recommend using a human editor too ... but AI can give you a great start. It can do things like spot typos and grammatical errors, but it can
also suggest where your pacing might be sagging or your characters might need further development. (As with any beta reader feedback, you'll have to decide whether or not you agree with it!)
And (perhaps a little controversially) ... I think all fiction-writers should give AI a try, to see if it can be helpful in their own writing process.
This Thursday (17th), I'm running a live workshop in Writers' Cafe on "ChatGPT for Writers".
If you'd like to join us and you're not already a Cafe member, it's just $10/month to join, with a full money-back guarantee throughout your first month.
Our workshop will cover:
- Pros & Cons of generative AI (and why it isn’t replacing novelists!)
- How to prompt ChatGPT effectively and get better results
- Using ChatGPT as a brainstorming tool
- Using ChatGPT as an editing tool
- Using ChatGPT when you’re stuck on what you're writing
- Should you use ChatGPT to actually do the writing?
- Limitations of ChatGPT & AI
The workshop runs from 7-8pm UK time (2-3pm EDT, 11-noon PDT) but there'll be a full recording (plus worksheet) if you can't make it live.
Want to join us? Head here for all the details on Writers' Cafe:
aliventures.com/writers-cafe
Happy writing,
Ali
