Better...Stronger...Faster by Gabriel Valjan

 

Chime in with your thoughts on writers using AI. Is it okay to use it for some tasks? Where do you draw the line?

 

I don’t think writers should use AI because it’s imperfect, and it isn't just another online technology; it’s a distraction from honing their craft and exercising their native talent and imagination.

The rumpus over Artificial Intelligence will have us believe that our robot overlords are here, and writers everywhere must become Sarah Connor or Kyle Reese against the cyborg from Skynet the publisher. In a word, writers are screwed again, unable to keep up and compete while they still can’t afford to pay the bills.

Calm down, People.

            The technology is not new.

Humans do not have a good track-record when it comes to technology.

The whizz-bang oh, my of ChatGPT that has so mesmerized and threatened us is based on deep-machine learning that uses predictive text and neural networks. Massive amounts of data are stored and combined and recombined in ways unimaginable, and with godlike speed. As with anything: that which humans have wrought, has produced mixed results. When it doesn’t work, it’s as hilarious as those memes about Autocorrect gone wrong. It’s creepy AF that it’s the same technology that gave us Alexa who may or may not be a sleeper agent for Bezos or the CIA.

All technology has become super-accelerated. I used to use a typewriter in high school and college. Computers arrived later and they required 30 floppies to load the OS. Now the OS is downloaded from the Cloud, and the capabilities of our cellphones alone have far exceeded the computing power that put a man on the moon.

AI brings ethical questions to the fore. The technology questions originality and authenticity. Auto-Tune, for example, enhances the singer’s chops. The soundboard fine-tunes the sound of the ensemble. Our ears are asking the same question as the one in the 70s commercial, ‘Is it live or is it Memorex?’ ChatGPT is a glorified Google Search engine that can “help you.” Rather than name some of them myself, take a look at this Forbes article, which provides ten examples.

The lament that humans will be displaced and replaced seems ancient and ludicrous. Most technology has uses different from what the creator intended. At its worst, Tech has been lethal as the atomic bomb, though the same technology gave us nuclear medicine and microwaves. The drone overhead can be used for surveillance and to assassinate someone.

We’ve wrung our hands over the possibility that the robots will develop sentience and enslave us. Hate to break the news to you, but we are enslaved. We’ve become dependent on our phones. The computer started as a tool and has evolved into a companion. The laptop is the television made smaller and portable. The Nintendo generation are great as laparoscopic surgeons, but terrible at social interactions.

Then there is money. It always comes down to money.

It’s still the replacement theory. Publishers can use ChatGPT to produce books that are awful and ever so predictable. They are already doing it (the awful part). The publishing industry is in the business of making money. If Marketing says horny vampires sell, then expect to see vamps everywhere until the thrill is gone. The publishers will move on to the next lucrative trend. Nobody knows what that is. It could be brilliant or dumb as a Pet Rock. What matters is that it sells.

At the heart of all the anxiety isn’t whether HAL will write a better book than you, rather, it’s the mad rush of the usual suspects wanting to know they can monetize AI. It’s like a comedy skit between two Marxists arguing which is more important: Means or Production. Both publishers and writers want to make money. The perverse thing about Technology is that it may start with the few, but everyone ends up using it, and THAT affects the economics. For better or worse, anybody with a laptop can call him or herself a writer, a journalist.

The science fiction films and literature of yesteryear reminded us that Machines lack Soul. They miss that essence of humanity. The output is like someone who has learned a second language. There’s communication but you will never sound like a native speaker. Then there’s nuance. A tourist with Montezuma’s Revenge can ask for los aseos, los baños, los servicios, or scream Toilet! AI cannot decide which is the right word for the occasion. Anybody who has dealt with automated Help Desks knows how choices can turn the human into a demon screaming ‘Representative, please!’

Let’s admit that Tech is seductive, but it comes with a Lie. Housewives were told that all the latest gadgets would make her life easier. She’d free up time, only to see it replaced with some other annoying chore (read: her partner). Leisure has been a sign of wealth and luxury since Jane Austen. One more lie: Television was once hailed as the great educator, and we know how that turned out. Ka-ching!

The irony in all the handwringing over ChatGPT is that writing has not changed fundamentally since Cadmus. It’s butt down and choice of pen, pencil, or screen.

I’m not worried, folks. I’ve been lied to before.

I know I live in a material world.

The Jetsons said we’d have flying cars. They lied.

I’ll wait and see whether the ghost in the box can write like or better than Gabriel Valjan.