AI and writers
What are we as writers if not improvisers? Some of us plan out our work, filling in every gap before putting fingers to keyboard, others of us are ‘pantsers’, writers who write by the seat of their pants, never knowing what’s going to happen next, but trusting in their muse that inspiration will strike. Both types of writers, I contend, are reliant on improvisation more than perhaps we realise.
The pantser, of course, relies on their skills at improvisation to create plot, characters, theme, and so on; the ‘planner’ calls upon inspiration when filling in the gaps of the same.
Where writers are not so good is coincidentally where the new 400lb gorilla in the room—Artificial Intelligence (AI)—is exceedingly weak: Expressing vulnerability and using that vulnerability to create something special, out of the ordinary, and very much not mundane.
As the American academic and author Brené Brown says, “There’s no such thing as creative people and non-creative people. There are only people who use their creativity and people who don’t. Unused creativity isn’t benign. It lives within us until it’s expressed, neglected to death, or suffocated by resentment and fear. (Brown)
Brown also says, “Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope empathy, accountability, and authenticity.” (Emily).
I have been very vocal to my network about the invincible march of AI writing bots. Whilst my peers largely hold the opinion that the history of technology strongly suggests AI will take a very long time to mature, far longer than we likely at first think, I am betting on AI to be able to replace the creative writer within eighteen months. Already, two influential and very large British newspapers have owned up to using AI to write articles for their newspapers and websites (Sweney).
Why am I so bullish? Because my experience of the birth of the business use of websites and then social media shows that new technology (blogs, etc.,) can infiltrate and take over existing structures far more quickly than the incumbent managers would ever predict (“Why do I need a website, I already have a fax?” “Why do I need everyone to have an email address, my PA has one, that’s all we need”, “Why do I need to blog when we already have a website?”).
Currently, if you ask a Creative Writing AI what they can’t do, they will reply that, inter alia, they cannot ‘create’, nor can they write with ‘emotion’. Give them eighteen months.
Brown, Brené. “Here’s What I’ve Learned About Creativity from the World of Wholehearted Living and Loving.” Facebook https://www.facebook.com/brenebrown/photos/heres-what-ive-learned-about-creativity-from-the-world-of-wholehearted-living-an/2025825780765854/. Accessed 6th March 2023.
Emily. “25 Brené Brown Quotes on Vulnerability That Will Change Your Life.” A Thousand Lights https://athousandlights.com/brene-brown-quotes-on-vulnerability/. Accessed 6th March 2023.
Sweney, Mark. “Mirror and Express Owner Publishes First Articles Written Using Ai.” The Guardian (UK) https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/07/mirror-and-express-owner-publishes-first-articles-written-using-ai. Accessed 8th March 2023.