If we do not write with our voice then we lose it. That will be the end game of this A.I driven society of our future. The human love convenience will dominate. #keepithuman
When we read something a human being has written, we are engaged in a one on one personal relationship. We are being spoken to. When we read something AI has written, we may be informed but there is no sense of a personal imteraction.
The human heart, soul and mind connects. AI does not.
Totally agree! For me writing is about growing as a writer, and consequently, as a person! AI can be used as a tool to help me get there but no substitute for doing the work. Thanks for the reminder.🙏
- AI for the foreseeable future isn’t really a threat to writers
- AI can be used to assist certain writing tasks if you want
This is great! Thanks for helping raise awareness.
Unfortunately many people are absolutely terrified of AI, especially writers, yet are so terrified they don’t seek to even understand what AI can and cannot do, which is unfortunate.
I see a tremendous amount of fear and even hatred towards AI, despite the fact many of those have not even tried it.
Certainly there are good and bad uses of any technology?
So let’s try to move beyond our fears of the unknown about AI, try to understand better what it can and cannot do, then decide if we want to use it or not ourselves.
Fear is a terrible place to live permanently, curiosity and education can help liberate us from a cycle of fear.
Thanks again Jen great post, I aspire to do the same as you!
I’m not going to use it. No way. I’m the Luddite’s Luddite.
Besides, I’d probably end up in jail on vagrancy charges if I didn’t spend all my time ACTUALLY WRITING. Moreover, my typos, misspellings, poor grammar, run-on sentences, and baffling logic are all proof of my humanity, much like being able to spot the squares with motorcycles or traffic lights in the bot checks.
Jen, It's a good idea, to write yourself. and not rely on the machines. The algorithm loves machine output, but real people want to read, and enjoy reading real writing. And to be honest, i care more about the ideas that are being conveyed, then the way it's formatted. If you have great ideas, that is more important, that dull voiceless narrative.
I have questions that I long to ask you. And I've thought about writing you about them.
Thanks for this “behind the scenes”. Makes me reflect on my own - very sparse - use of it as part of my writing and editing process. The specific examples spark some ideas - thank you for that.
I just had a conversation about this today. Asked if I use GPT to write, I said yes, but it isn’t close to being ‘there’ yet. I use it similar to the way you do—sparingly, but mostly in the editing phase.
Readers read for the humanity, or as you put it, soul. They need to relate to your words, and see themselves in your stories. AI doesn’t (yet) have a story, it has a logical framework.
Important message here. AI is the death of creativity. I appreciate your notes on how you do use it as I've been perhaps a bit too black and white, refusing to touch it. I prefer typos to prove I'm a human behind the screen.
I like to use Chat GPT for feedback by asking "How does this sound?" Just hearing that "Your description has a wonderful blend of personal connection and artistic exploration! " or similar, is good enough for me. I can dismiss its "suggestions".
Great post. Thank you for a nice primer on a writer's -- and yours -- complicated relationship with AI ChatBots. I primarily write fiction, though I'm also developing a newsletter I plan to Substack. I generally agree with your takes on the power and pitfalls of ChatGPT. I find it a powerful and efficient tool for research and brainstrorming, with the caveat that one's results depend on the clarity of one's query. And, yes, one must fact check the results. I make a point of asking for citations, which helps immensely. You nail it with your obervation about the sterility of an AI's voice. The best it can do is mimic the language it processes. I have an engineering background and, while I'm open minded to innovative possibilities. I don't foresee an AI being able to write with original authencity.
Thank you for sharing this Jen - I found it really interesting and helpful to see both the negatives but also positives of using various AI platforms to support writing - in an appropriate way. 👍🏻
Thank you for sharing your detailed process. It’s things like this that make this publication awesome. I have also found that when I started my Substack I had no idea what I was doing. And without any formal writing training, I still don’t. Yet I’m working on it. Looking to improve my writing process. Thanks for your guidance along the way.
Great take on A.I. and the craft. I also really appreciated in inside look at your process. Not dissimilar to mine. Although, I do send a preview email to myself, I don't read it on my phone. I will now, after reading your piece. Thanks for that insight.
proud of your opening salvo in your column! You write from the human heart and not the figment of A.I which is using the human output anyhow. The A.I is cold and the human is warm with a heartbeat. keep it human Jen.
Love, love, love this! Real writers write with VOICE! The music part too!
If we do not write with our voice then we lose it. That will be the end game of this A.I driven society of our future. The human love convenience will dominate. #keepithuman
When we read something a human being has written, we are engaged in a one on one personal relationship. We are being spoken to. When we read something AI has written, we may be informed but there is no sense of a personal imteraction.
The human heart, soul and mind connects. AI does not.
The purpose of writing is to connect. Why else ???
Something else you can do while re-reading and editing: print out your piece in a different font. Sounds crazy, but it will read differently.
Totally agree! For me writing is about growing as a writer, and consequently, as a person! AI can be used as a tool to help me get there but no substitute for doing the work. Thanks for the reminder.🙏
I think you’ve explained really well why:
- AI for the foreseeable future isn’t really a threat to writers
- AI can be used to assist certain writing tasks if you want
This is great! Thanks for helping raise awareness.
Unfortunately many people are absolutely terrified of AI, especially writers, yet are so terrified they don’t seek to even understand what AI can and cannot do, which is unfortunate.
I see a tremendous amount of fear and even hatred towards AI, despite the fact many of those have not even tried it.
Certainly there are good and bad uses of any technology?
So let’s try to move beyond our fears of the unknown about AI, try to understand better what it can and cannot do, then decide if we want to use it or not ourselves.
Fear is a terrible place to live permanently, curiosity and education can help liberate us from a cycle of fear.
Thanks again Jen great post, I aspire to do the same as you!
I’m not going to use it. No way. I’m the Luddite’s Luddite.
Besides, I’d probably end up in jail on vagrancy charges if I didn’t spend all my time ACTUALLY WRITING. Moreover, my typos, misspellings, poor grammar, run-on sentences, and baffling logic are all proof of my humanity, much like being able to spot the squares with motorcycles or traffic lights in the bot checks.
Jen, It's a good idea, to write yourself. and not rely on the machines. The algorithm loves machine output, but real people want to read, and enjoy reading real writing. And to be honest, i care more about the ideas that are being conveyed, then the way it's formatted. If you have great ideas, that is more important, that dull voiceless narrative.
I have questions that I long to ask you. And I've thought about writing you about them.
However, you might not like what i have to ask.
If we do not use our mind/brain it will atrophy like any muscle. Be aware of the other side of outsourcing your mind to A.I over time.
Thanks for this “behind the scenes”. Makes me reflect on my own - very sparse - use of it as part of my writing and editing process. The specific examples spark some ideas - thank you for that.
I just had a conversation about this today. Asked if I use GPT to write, I said yes, but it isn’t close to being ‘there’ yet. I use it similar to the way you do—sparingly, but mostly in the editing phase.
Readers read for the humanity, or as you put it, soul. They need to relate to your words, and see themselves in your stories. AI doesn’t (yet) have a story, it has a logical framework.
Great post!
Important message here. AI is the death of creativity. I appreciate your notes on how you do use it as I've been perhaps a bit too black and white, refusing to touch it. I prefer typos to prove I'm a human behind the screen.
I like to use Chat GPT for feedback by asking "How does this sound?" Just hearing that "Your description has a wonderful blend of personal connection and artistic exploration! " or similar, is good enough for me. I can dismiss its "suggestions".
Great post. Thank you for a nice primer on a writer's -- and yours -- complicated relationship with AI ChatBots. I primarily write fiction, though I'm also developing a newsletter I plan to Substack. I generally agree with your takes on the power and pitfalls of ChatGPT. I find it a powerful and efficient tool for research and brainstrorming, with the caveat that one's results depend on the clarity of one's query. And, yes, one must fact check the results. I make a point of asking for citations, which helps immensely. You nail it with your obervation about the sterility of an AI's voice. The best it can do is mimic the language it processes. I have an engineering background and, while I'm open minded to innovative possibilities. I don't foresee an AI being able to write with original authencity.
Thank you for sharing this Jen - I found it really interesting and helpful to see both the negatives but also positives of using various AI platforms to support writing - in an appropriate way. 👍🏻
Thank you for sharing your detailed process. It’s things like this that make this publication awesome. I have also found that when I started my Substack I had no idea what I was doing. And without any formal writing training, I still don’t. Yet I’m working on it. Looking to improve my writing process. Thanks for your guidance along the way.
Great take on A.I. and the craft. I also really appreciated in inside look at your process. Not dissimilar to mine. Although, I do send a preview email to myself, I don't read it on my phone. I will now, after reading your piece. Thanks for that insight.
proud of your opening salvo in your column! You write from the human heart and not the figment of A.I which is using the human output anyhow. The A.I is cold and the human is warm with a heartbeat. keep it human Jen.