Over this break I was at a wedding. One of my closest friends was getting married to his fiancé (now wife) of 5 years. It was a beautiful event I got to see my friends dressed to the nines, me and my partner also got to dress up, and I got to privilege to hear the groom & brides vows and my other friends best man speech (though the best man’s speech was influence by a concoction of Hennessey, Moscow mules and tequila his voice was felt throughout the venue.
Their love, souls and emotions cascaded into their words. It was as authentic as authenticity can be. Something so human cannot be replicated. I’m sure that if i transcribe it on to paper (digitally?) and run it thru Originality.ai it would be 100 % human.
When I read the Originality.ai article I got a wave of relief, immediately followed by a wave of dread (there’s a duality of man joke there but I digress).
Let me explain my dread first. 1) there’s no free trial. if its being used by educators its another expense for them, and as every educator you don’t go into education for the money. Also schools/education programs are extremely under funded. 2) Its’s for profit. The tool costs $0.01 per 100 words to scan (equal to 1 credit) $20: 2,000 credits $50: 5,000 credits $100: 10,000 credits $250: 25,000 credits $500: 50,000 credits. Imagine the bill college professors would rack up using these on essays, term papers and dissertations. Now for some relief. 1) authenticity is my main concern with Ai and although you can tell when its been, since it lacks voice [humanity?], having a tool that tells you what percentage is AI is bound to be helpful. 2) The creation of this Ai detection tool is bringing to light the ability for Ai’s abuse. We in the field of writing have already noticed its existence and impact but shining a light on it will make this issue mainstream.
the Carlow University article speaks on how to find and develop your voice. It ends with the words “as a writer, you have to set yourself apart”. Which is what we want as creatives. To stand out, to say look at this thing I’ve created, and to induce the same emotions you felt while creating it, in others. (at least that’s what I want) Diction, Syntax, Imagery, Tone etc. an amalgamation of all these terms, plus a lot more, is what makes your writing unique and what makes it yours. It’s also what connects you to your audience, cause regardless if its 1, 10s, 1000s or millions of readers your unique spark of creativity is what will reach them.
