Writing Lessons & Advice: Writing with AI
NANOWRIMO 2024 created waves last month by attempting to voice a neutral stance on the use of writing with artificial intelligence (AI).
NaNoWriMo neither explicitly supports nor condemns any approach to writing, including the use of tools that leverage AI. We recognize that harm has been done to the writing and creative communities at the hands of bad actors in the generative AI space, and that the ethical questions and risks posed by some aspects of this technology are real. The fact that AI is a large, complex technology category (which encompasses both non-generative and generative AI, applied in a range of ways to a range of uses) contributes to our belief that AI is simply too big and too varied to categorically support or condemn.
NaNoWriMo's mission is to "provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people use their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page." We fulfill our mission by supporting the humans doing the writing. Please see this related post that speaks to our overall position on nondiscrimination with respect to approaches to creativity, writer's resources, and personal choice.
To be honest, I don’t understand how people are using AI to produce the bulk of significant writing projects. That’s not to say I deny any possibilities of doing so; I just have a hard time seeing them. Maybe this is because I’m “old”, I have average computer skills, and/or I greatly love the art of writing.
If I have any information or advice on the matter, I’d say to remember that ChatGPT (and similar apps) are assistant programs, like Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. To my understanding--which I’m sure is likely very generalized--the voice command products do things like tell you the time and weather, manage your shopping list, note your reminders, or facilitate your phone calls. They ultimately execute an array of fairly basic tasks to help you proceed with bigger ones. The chatbot/AI assistants are just virtual offerings of similar technology, just perhaps a little bit “smarter” given that some iterations seem to work with a more conversational approach.
I played with a few chatbot tools while preparing for this post. Here are some details about my interactions and results:
I told ChatGPT, “I need to write a 3 to 5-page essay on whether schools should abolish homework”. It did not write the hypothetical essay for me, but instead gave me a detailed outline that included relevant ideas and how to incorporate them. One example: “Mental Health and Stress: Discuss research and evidence showing that excessive homework can lead to increased stress and mental health issues among students. Reference studies or surveys that highlight these concerns.”
I told ChatGPT, “I write informative content on writing for a blog. What are some good topics to cover?” Its suggestions included SEO best practices, creating shareable content, the art of the opening sentence, monetizing your writing, writing for different platforms, effective use of visuals, and many other areas relevant to blogging more than the craft and mechanics of writing. I probably should’ve rephrased my inquiry to be clearer.
I asked Google’s chatbot to tell me a Christmas story and it reiterated the plot of the 1983 family comedy about the kid wanting a Red Ryder BB Gun and getting bunny pjs for Christmas.
In short, AI can help one’s writing process in some pretty interesting ways, but making AI manage most of the legwork is ill-advised in my opinion. Just from my few experimental interactions, I couldn’t get quite what I wanted. True, some of my input needed fine-tuning, but more to the point, AI cannot match the human touch and intelligence like most people believe. AI is not fully capable of original, creative content--skills and qualities innate to human nature. AI tools give output based on data they’re given to “learn from”--hence Google giving me a movie synopsis instead of something more unique.
To drive home the discussion, here are a couple interesting guidepost thoughts and quotes I found while researching:
...AI sidesteps what a lot of us think of as the process of writing, that is, using a form like a novel to express ourselves, not just at the level of a novel’s broad premise, but more granularly at the level of characters, scenes, sentences, word choices. Deciding that those choices don’t matter in the process of writing a novel, is not reaching for a different tool to express yourself; it’s deciding to abandon the entire process of writing a novel.
...Generative A.I. appeals to people who think they can express themselves in a medium without actually working in that medium.”
As the linguist Emily M. Bender has noted, teachers don’t ask students to write essays because the world needs more student essays. The point of writing essays is to strengthen students’ critical-thinking skills; in the same way that lifting weights is useful no matter what sport an athlete plays, writing essays develops skills necessary for whatever job a college student will eventually get. Using ChatGPT to complete assignments is like bringing a forklift into the weight room; you will never improve your cognitive fitness that way.
Writers have a plethora of tools at their disposal to aid in their craft. AI is fairly new technology that has potential to be a worthy tool if/when utilized properly. The trouble is a combination of defining and sticking to what’s proper usage. AI can assist in some aspects of the writing act and art act, but it cannot be responsible for the majority. Again, as per NANOWRIMO’s stance, “If using AI will assist your creative process, you are welcome to use it. Using ChatGPT to write your entire novel would defeat the purpose of the challenge”. Both Folta and Chiang emphasize that heavy dependence on AI shirks mental processes and developments connected to writing. The human-centric aspects are necessary and grow as one partakes in the act and art of writing.
If you want to learn more about available AI writing programs, their potential, or reasonable ways to use them, here are some additional articles to review:
Hopefully you are better informed on this matter!
If there's a topic you want me to cover in the future, you're welcome to reach out to me on the web chat feature or socials!
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