Wednesday, October 4, 2023

IWSG & the Borg

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.


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Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!  

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October 4 question: The topic of AI writing has been heavily debated across the world. According to various sources, generative AI will assist writers, not replace them. What are your thoughts?

I haven't even tried an AI program, so I really don't know much about it. I'd rather play with my stories than the tech.

I don't think AI can replace that human touch. When I was working as a teacher, it was always easy to spot kids copying from an Internet source (or when parents wrote the assignments for them) and I suspect AI will have that same generic tone.

We're all unique and our words and products are unique as well. Personally, I have exactly zero desire to see what AI can do for me. I'd rather use my own words and my own voice, but that's just me.

At this early stage of AI development, we're not talking about Borg-level technology, although we may be talking about that kind of tone. I can't imagine a future where technology can replace human creativity. It's one of the things that makes us a pretty fun species.

How about you? Have you played with AI? What are your thoughts?

23 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm not that interested in using it either. And funny, I compared it to the Borg in a comment I made on another blog!

Natalie Aguirre said...

I agree it can't replace humans. I'm interested in using it for tasks other than writing manuscripts to save time and get me going.

M.J. Fifield said...

I haven't used AI for anything, and have no plans to change that. My software-developer significant other likes to use Chat GPT for research. He's found that to be very helpful.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

It can't mimic your voice, even if you feed it a mostly done manuscript. As you said, ones like that will be easy to spot.

A Hundred Quills said...

Totally with you on this, Jemi. AI can never have the kind of silence needed for creativity to thrive. There's so much noise out there, muddled noise.

cleemckenzie said...

Seem as if we are on the same page as to AI. I’m sure it will have beneficial uses—I’m thinking medicine and law. Int the creative area…I’m not keen on letting it into mine.

Yvonne Osborne said...

I agree completely. I have zero desire to see what AI can do for me. I'll use my own thoughts, words, and imagination thank you very much! if nothing else, I think it's just plain creepy. I keep seeing these popups more and more "edit with AI" blah blah blah. Why has this been thrust upon us so quickly? I'm opting out!!!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

LOL. I love the borg reference. I hope you're right.

Elephant's Child said...

I am a bit anxious about its infiltration into creative areas. We are way too quick to adopt new technologies without considering all the possibilities.

emaginette said...

I've always thought that our imaginations were what made us special and the same across the globe. :-)

Anna from elements of emaginette

Olga Godim said...

I don't know about AI writing, but I do use AI-generated art in my own artistic projects. AI art is pretty but generic, with no personality behind it, so it should be used judiciously.

Patricia JL said...

I'm not interesting in using AI to help write a book. It's adding an extra step. I have to think up the prompts. Fine tune the prompts. The rewrite what it put out? Then go through my regular editing? Why not just spend the time thinking up the story and writing it how I want in the first place?

Jemi Fraser said...

Alex - in this case, resistance isn't futile :)

Natalie - I know several people are using it for those kinds of tasks

MJ - that makes sense for him. It has its uses - it's just not of interest to me at this point :)

Jen - I agree! The Borg shouldn't be who we're aspiring to be!

Diane - yes - the writer's voice is so unique!

Sonia - muddled noise is exactly it!

Lee - I agree - leave the creative arena to humans :)

Yvonne - I'm opting out as well. People do love a new thing!

Susan - me too!

Sue - it is scary - there are a lot of ramifications with something this powerful

Anna - I completely agree!

Olga - I haven't seen AI art (that I know of...) but that sounds about right - no personality!

Denise Covey said...

Hey Jemi, I love it for blurbs and now someone tells me it wrote them a perfect synopsis so I'm in. But I think I'll hang onto the old-fashioned method of story writing.

Carol Kilgore said...

I am Borg.
No I'm not.
I'm hungry and I need coffee.
That is all.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Writing is too fun for me to let it write for me. It can help me with blurbs though ;)

Liza said...

It will never have humanity, but my fear is that eventually, AI could get close.

Jemi Fraser said...

Denise - I can see it being a useful assistant in some circumstances, but I'd rather play with the words myself

Carol - LOL - I'm hungry too!!

Lynda - I with you - I love playing with the words myself :)

Liza - that's a very valid fear (I worry as well). As long as AI sticks to tasks rather than creativity, I'm okay with it

Judy Ann Davis said...

Although I only used it once to ask for a picture of an Early American room where AI failed miserably, I won't use it for writing. But, I do know that a lot of companies are using it to help write commercials and stock written materials. Also, someone said they used it for children's bedtime stories. You punch in the type of setting, character, and plot and, according to the user, the stories are pretty good. So hearing that, it makes me a little nervous. I think AI, as it gathers more (or steals more) info. will also be more polished in its output.

Jemi Fraser said...

Judy - it is very disconcerting what AI can do when it isn't reigned in by common sense. There are far too many unethical people out there who will be willing to use it in all kinds of ways

Nas said...

It can't replace humans. After all it's a machine. If people do use it then they should put in their effort and do it ethically.

Jemi Fraser said...

Nas - I totally agree!

Anonymous said...

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. What makes us "human" cannot be replicated by technology. Often imitated, never duplicated. :-)