Why are writers so afraid of AI?
A tale as old as time.
No. 129: Why are writers so afraid of AI?
Writers seem a particularly salty bunch when it comes to matters of artificial intelligence.
It makes sense given one of the main facets of AI is large-language models a.k.a. a bunch of text written by humans spliced up and used to generate new sentences and paragraphs.
I’m not one of those salty writers. I’m excited.
Even though my stuff is actively being ripped off and crammed into the models companies are using to power their chat bots — for profit — I’m excited.
Would I like to get a slice of that cash money pie for my efforts? Sure. But I’m not banking on it. Plagiarism has been around 5ever, especially since writing on the internet became a thing. LLM’s are just a faster and cleverer plagiarizers. They’re either good at neutralizing all traces of the writer’s voice or unable to match it, but either way its a skillful dupe.
The result, as of now, is writing that has no flair, no color, no unexpected uniqueness or special creativity. It’s literally formulaic. I can spot AI-generated writing like I can spot a knock-off Doc Marten boot.
And that’s not a knock.
That’s fine for what these models are meant to be: tools, not artists.
At least, not artists yet.
But anyway, why should I feel threatened as a creative writer aiming to do new things with the English language? AI and I have different goals: it wants to convey information as efficiently as possible; I want to do a lot of strange shit.
And if AI wants to make art, far out.
Why shouldn’t a bot make its own attempts at art?
For now, the proliferation of AI-generated writing seems only emphasize beautiful writing. And when AI can write beautifully? As long as I know I’m reading something generated by a machine instead of a person, I don’t care. That has no bearing on my ability to write and read what I want.
But what about those “writers” using AI to write stories, novels, books?
People using AI as a replacement for creativity are screwing themselves, and that’s about all there is to say. The only loser in that game is the person who cheated themselves out of an experience. It’s like using black tar heroin to feel good vs. establishing a sustainably happy life. Should you rely on spoon and needle for cheer? Probably not. But it’s an individual choice, as is artistic integrity.
The other potential victim in the case of AI-written books is the reader — “potential” because, are they a victim?
The first order outcome is: more stuff to read, and if the read was an enjoyable one, awesome. If we enjoyed only what was crafted by a human hand, I could never eat a McDouble again. And if the read was terrible? That’s a bummer regardless.
All in all, I don’t get the fear.
AI seems to be a clear net positive and a win for creativity. It eliminates mundane, time-consuming tasks, like formatting a book (instead of writing it), sending 1,000 book pitch emails to agents, performing a copy edit. It allows artists to focus more on the idea and less on the technical and menial intricacies surrounding it.
With the few AI tools available now, filmmakers can incorporate animation into their videos without having to pay thousands of dollars to a studio; podcasters can achieve quality sound without having to spend 10+ hours in post-production or hire a mixer; video creators can generate original scores without commissioning a composer.
There are casualties, for sure.
The animator, the sound mixer, the composer will lose some gigs.
But compared to the positives? The blocked avenues being unblocked are new pathways for artists to flourish, animators, mixers, and composers included.
Why the fear, then?
It’s the classic tale of status quo vs. big new thing. It’s the cubists and impressionists in Paris. It’s the automobile replacing the horse-drawn carriage. It’s emancipation to the slave economy. It’s guerilla warfare sniping a bunch of well-dressed chaps standing in a firing line.
It’s those things, but it’s also the interstate bypassing small towns along the highway, fast food chains undercutting mom and pop, bookstores becoming a novelty.
There are dangers.
But isn’t more dangerous to be afraid of a technology that can improve the lives of everyone?
It’s a tool, like my keyboard.
I hardly ever write by hand. ♦
Weekly Three
HEAR: “BUNKER/PREROLL” by mynameisntjmack & Tommy Richman (YouTube)
VIEW: Ulises design studio transforms the Roman colosseum using AI (designboom)
All tools are dangerous.
AI is a tool.
AI is dangerous.
Beauty is heart speaking to heart.
AI has no heart.
AI is heartless.
Etc
eTc
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Matt to be honest I didn't read the whole article to be honest but I know one thing. You have read an old poem of mine and I have been reading your work for a while now and love it. Its your own experiences as a real person and we can compare like I.E getting caught with a knife in school while I got caught with shriekens, throwing knifes and ninja swords. But the real life human experiences of feelings and anxiety of a real life sitiuation is real!!! I grew up in nothern Ireland and on a night out I knew I could not be outspoken on a night out or suffer anxiety for what may happen for example to my family. An AI bot cannot convey that amount of feelings or reality but instead copies a mash of writing about somethimg that really doesnt have feeling. Our millennial generation is currently believing this bullshit and AI is constantly misquoting like wikkipedia as its made up from a collection of programmers bullshit and personallities and can be tweaked by all who install it into servers. Reaility is only at a whim of who has the fastest servers!!! Our world of true creativity is about to ve ruined for the next 5-10 years, just watch black mirrors and add your own education & views. It will take us that long to recover I fear. Love your work Matt think i may publish offline before returning here got 3 books to push out so returned to Ireland. Good luck boyo!!!