Regular readers of this Blog have probably picked up on my fascination with AI and its impact on writing.

The term AI-Slop is thrown around a lot today. And certainly, there is a lot of it. But this is not AI’s doing. If you believe AI is a tool, like I do, then you can quickly see how it is the improper use of that tool by PEOPLE that creates the slop. The slop comes from people. AI is how they make it.  

Imagine if everyone suddenly got a shop full of new power tools and a free supply of lumber and nails. Some wouldn’t have any interest in using the tools at all. But there would still be a lot of people attempting to building furniture and other creations with their new tool set. Unfortunately, only a few of those people would create something truly worthwhile.  I suspect those people would likely be the ones who already knew how to build something beautiful. I think this is true with AI as well.

It is never the tool; it’s the craftsperson behind it.

When it comes to AI and writing, I also like to think about the emotional involvement we tend to have in our own stories. Do we care as much about something written in part, or whole, by AI?  I suspect not.

My mother has written two books containing various stories about her life and the people she has known through the years. If all of those stories were fed into AI, I suspect AI could have come up with a book as well. I am sure it would read factually and be grammatically perfect.

But I am also certain it could not tell those stories in anywhere close to the same way my mother can tell a story. She is a natural storyteller. In conversation she often leads with a shocking opening:

“I suppose you heard so-and-so was killed by a runaway giraffe at the Zoo.”

OK, that giraffe bit was made up, but this is her exact “shocker” structure. I always found the “I suppose you heard” bit interesting. I think she chooses that opening phrase as it has such a casual, conversational, feel that it heightens how much you get sandbagged by the shocking part.

She also likes to build to a twist or surprise when she can. Here is an example of something she actually told me (Note the name has been changed):

              “I suppose you heard your Terri is in Las Vegas getting married.”

              “What? When did this happen?”

              “We’ll there’s probably a reason she had to get married so quickly”

That there, my friends, is a pro in action.

I am analytical, so my default is to deliver information fast and factual. My tale would have been:

              “Terri got pregnant so she and her boyfriend went to Las Vegas to get married.”

Still shocking news but not that sweet double-punch set-up of the natural story teller.

I don’t see AI doing that kind of set-up. Not just yet anyway. Will it be able to in the future? Maybe. Probably, in fact. But it still won’t have the connection. AI doesn’t care who Terri is. It doesn’t care about her current situation nor know how any of that that should impact the audience.

So, while there will undoubtedly be a lot of AI generated content that we will need to to swim through in our collective future, I have faith that the hand of the human author still has a place to write and express in a way AI will never be able to emulate completely.

– James