Tag Archives: Artificial Intelligence

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Is the rise of Open AI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, a threat to the livelihoods of human writers?

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For this week’s pathfinding session, the article assigned, Will ChatGPT Replace Human Writers? by Peter Biles, explores whether artificial intelligence (AI) can replace human writers, given the development of technologies like OpenAI’s DALL-E and ChatGPT. Sean Thomas of the Spectator World argues that writers are “screwed” and recommends they quit the craft entirely.

However, Christopher Reid, an academic translator, takes a more balanced approach, suggesting that creative workers will “post-create” by using machines to generate initial ideas that they then refine. However, Reid is concerned about copyright issues and believes AI technicians need to develop a way for human creators to receive dividends when AI mimics their work. The article then goes on to question the reductionist view that writing is merely “algorithmic,” as language serves a two-fold purpose: to convey reality and establish a relational connection with others. Bile suggests that the personal and conversational element of language makes it uniquely human and that AI may never be able to replace human creativity. While AI can generate facts and pretty sentences, it cannot engage in dialogue and lacks a mutual commitment to reality. 

Some critics, such as Sean Thomas, argue that AI will soon be able to outperform human writers in all areas. He suggests that writers should quit the craft entirely, as computers will do it better. However, the article challenges this view, arguing that writing is not simply an automated algorithmic process. The purpose of language is to convey reality and establish a relational connection with other people. AI may be able to generate text, but it cannot engage in real communication because it is not interested in reality and lacks a mutual commitment to truth. AI-generated writing cannot replace human writing, because it does not have the interpersonal and personal element that makes it uniquely human.

The article notes that AI will reduce the cognitive load of creating, allowing creative workers to post-create instead of create. A machine can generate an initial idea, and the artist or writer can then tinker with it to produce a final product. However, the article also raises concerns about copyright issues, particularly for artists, and calls for AI technicians to develop a way for human creators to receive dividends when AI mimics their work.

While AI has an impact on creative work, it will not replace human writers and artists. Instead, the impact is somewhere in the middle, where AI can aid and complement human creativity but never be able to replicate the personal and interpersonal nature of human communication.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Human Touch in Writing

Photo by Hussein Abdullah on Unsplash


The rise of AI tools, specifically OpenAI’s Chat GPT chatbot, has led to the development of various writing-assistive technologies, such as autocompleting sentences and grammar checkers, making the writing process faster and more efficient. However, there is concern that the increased reliance on these tools may negatively affect a writer’s voice, which is the unique personality and style that sets a writer’s work apart. While AI tools can certainly make the writing process effortless, they shouldn’t be looked upon as a replacement for a writer’s voice and creative input.

After our discussion last week about the importance of voice in writing, I can say that a downside of AI tools is their lack of comprehension of the material they generate. Artificial intelligence has mastered the technical aspects of language, such as syntax, but has no understanding of meaning and voice in writing. It also cannot link concepts with personal experiences and for humans, language becomes functional when we connect words with context.

Voice is a crucial aspect of writing as it represents the unique perspective, style, and tone. It is the personality that the writer imbues into the text, making it distinct from other works. Voice can convey emotions, opinions, and attitudes, which can impact a reader’s experience of the text. It can also help to establish a connection between the writer and the reader, creating a sense of intimacy and engagement. The voice in writing establishes the author’s credibility, builds trust, and shapes the reader’s perception of the author’s message.

Voice is what ultimately makes writing personal, memorable, and impactful.

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AI among humanity

The very concept of Artificial Intelligence itself is an outworldly thing. Autonomous Vehicles, Nigh-sentient artificial personalities, everyday facial recognition, the reality of technology being used it everyday situations, all of this sounds like a millennial’s out-of-reach fantasy of the future. But it’s no longer a thing of our predictions of the far future, it’s a part of today’s reality. At least in the form of facial recognition and daily technology use.

Watching the PBS documentary has made me think about the usage of AI in the present day. I honestly cannot see how most mass systems will implement artificial intelligence in ways that will benefit society. Watching the beginning of the doc where everyone in China was using facial recognition and smartphones had me seeing just how much we all use technology in today’s age. But it also has me asking important questions.

How do people who struggle with using technological systems maneuver this kind of society? This doc makes it seem that China is so much more technologically advanced than majority of the world. But my questions applies to the rest of the world just as much as it does to China.

The idea of law enforcement using AI to enact survelliance is a genuine concern of people. The use of AI to publicly shame and even fine people for minor “offenses” such as jaywalking, accidentally dropping something on the ground, or any other minor offense is an inhumane one. This would never be done to catch police committing violence against a citizen. They would never do this to protect victims of violence and harassment, or to protect against discrimination, but they would definitely do this for something as miniscule as jaywalking.

On the flipside, there are genuine positives to AI. Having the algorithm automatically organize itself for someone’s personal feed frees them of the need to do it themself. Saving personal legal records so they don’t get lost is something that Ai can do. Saving pictures, memories, creative content, documents, and other information is a good thing AI can do. If digital technicians were to focus on these needs over automated vehicles and online surveillance then I would have more confidence in the future of Artificial Intelligence.

Honestly, I look at the 2016 Facebook election experiment, the genuine investment in autonomous driving vehicles, and the mass surveillance and information stealing from people online, and I have severe concerns about how artificial intelligence will be used in destructive ways. When Facebook enacted an experiment to encourage people to go out and vote they showed just how much influence they have on the public. But, since Facebook is a place where misinformation flourishes at a high frequency, this just paints a picture of just how voters were influenced to vote. I can easily guess who 99% of Facebook voters voted for, the policies they supported, and the ethics they cared about. None of them are good.

Real people cannot and should be replaced by artificial personalities. When I watched the section where the truck drivers were worried about not getting paid, it shows just how bad of an idea autonomous driving is. Why would an AI not become a certified killer?

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“AI Reveals the Most Human Parts of Writing” By Katy Ilonka Gero

In the article “AI Reveals the Most Human Parts of Writing,” Katy Ilonka Gero discusses the use of Artificial Intelligence during the writing process while reverting to the example given of the woman writing her young adult fantasy novel. It highlights the potential of AI to automate the writing process and generate new forms of creative expression. However, it also acknowledges the limitations of AI in terms of understanding context, emotion, and meaning, which are the fundamental elements of human writing. The article concludes that while AI can assist with the writing process, it is unlikely to replace human authors.

I certainly agree with Gero’s statement when she states, “My hope is that computer-generated text gives more people the chance to say what they want to say, to enact their own vision, whether that be through a system helping them with planning, drafting, revising, or something else entirely. I don’t think we’ll be seeing fully computer-generated books out-competing human authors any time soon—not because computers won’t be capable, but because I think we will, for a long time, be far more interested in what a person has to say.”

I believe the usage of AI tools should be, for example, when writers experience writer’s block and are looking for that bridge to help connect and identify what ideas they want to come next. It should be used as a tool to help guide writers in the direction they are going. However, with pros always come cons. It is crucial that we not allow AI systems to gear us away from the direction we want to go, meaning if these systems are not used effectively as a tool to help during the writing process, this is where it begins to get tricky because we risk the AI tool changing what the writer sets out to achieve and as Gero mentions, “Writers may start to wonder whether their vision is getting muddied by an entity that lacks any experience with the real world.”