Artificial Intelligence and the Writing Game

No filters or AI tools were used to enhance this 5:50am in the morning 'writing my blog' image (yes, I'm wearing dog pajamas).

When ChatGPT first came out, I was vehemently against it. ‘No! I won’t use it for school planning!’ ‘It’s going to destroy artists!’ ‘It’s evil!’—these were just a few of my battle cries.

Now that some time has passed, where do I stand on AI? Well, I have taken a few tentative (and slightly self-judgmental) steps into the world of AI.

I recently used it to assist with writing a cover letter and have asked it to generate a few snippets for school planning along the way. Inevitably, I end up changing the wording and content somewhat anyway, but the starting point it provides is useful. I’m not ashamed to admit that I have no qualms about using it to ease the load of these kinds of cognitive tasks because that’s not where I want my time to be absorbed. I’d rather my brain be utilised for completely useless storytelling.

And last week, I used ChatGPT as a tool to check for spelling and punctuation errors in my own writing. It was great until... a simple suggestion appeared on my screen:

Would you also like me to improve the flow of your writing?

This prompt popped up after some lovely, complimentary phrases about my work, which had me questioning how affirmation from a computer could feel so good. Sure, I replied, and away it went.

The result was interesting. My work was still my work, but at the same time, it wasn’t. Subtle changes to my style affected the prose, and although it read well, it wasn’t entirely me. In some places, I felt it wrung the soul from my writing, changing vocabulary in a way that took it away from its intended landing place. But, in other places, the work was improved, and I was caught like a deer in the headlights - would it be wrong to use these suggestions? If some of my phrasing has been changed, is it still mine?

I ended up asking ChatGPT to revert to my original style and to just check for spelling and punctuation, but a little voice in my head keeps whispering, was that writing better than your own? Should you use it to improve your work? Are other writers using this style of editing?

So, that’s where I’m currently at with artificial intelligence. It’s a wrestle. I’m trying to be realistic about the place AI might have as a useful tool, but I don’t want a machine removing my essence. (If you just visualized me strapped to a machine pumping juice from my body, then you’ve got a weird imagination like me. Otherwise, you know what I mean.)

My relationship with AI is evolving and I'll keep you in the loop, but anyone reading my work can be assured it's from my brain. And as for all the work I fed into the program, is that being used to train the AI model? I think it is. Not a consideration to take lightly.

And that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading—I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic!