I’m excited to be co-hosting Insecure Writers Support Group this month along with Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, and Diedre Knight, and especially looking forward to visiting with many of you. AND because of our September question:
September 3rd Question: What are your thoughts on using AI, such as GPChat, Raptr, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, story bible, or creating outlines/beats?
I’ve been in the writing game for so long I wrote my first manuscript by hand then typed it on a manual typewriter and had my then husband run it through their copier at work. I’m proud of every word I put on those pages and of the fact that every one of them was MINE. When technology caught up to me, I fought it as long as possible but finally gave in to invest in a new word processor that would store up to a page in memory! Then finally, I treated myself to a cutting-edge machine with a memory large enough to maintain eight pages. Bonus: It would edit up to a paragraph for spelling errors! I was in author heaven!!
My next upgrade was a computer that made my life SO much easier. But with it came temptations. I could copy and paste and edit freely. I could compare documents side by side. AND I could request it to edit my work. What a dream come true! Or was it?
After updating several chapters via the AI Assist, the material produced didn’t seem quite . . . right. Oh, everything was correct, but it was somehow . . . flat. Artificial, just like that program. The flavor was missing. The words weren’t mine. As my critique group looked the pages over, they declared them . . . lifeless. Just like the program that twisted the originality out of them.
Use AI to create? No. Never again. As for doing corrections (I’m a terrible speller!), it can correct and serve but not in a creative capacity. For research, it’s an awesome tool, providing sources it would have taken me weeks to find.
I know my resistance to change makes things harder for me, but that choice was and is mine. And the words in my books - those choices were mine, too. And I’m proud of them! I’ll leave artificial to my sugar packets and let my creativity have its own way.
How about you? Can’t wait to see how you younger folk deal with today’s “helpers”!
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!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. The awesome co-hosts for the September 3rd posting of the IWSG are Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, Diedre Knight and Me!
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Twitter hashtag is #IWSG
I agree that AI is useful for spelling and such. But for larger uses? No thanks.
ReplyDelete“Let’s strive to be better in September!” – Charmaine J. Forde #quote
I have a novelette coming out on the ninth. And a post about condiments planned on the A to Z site this month. Hope you're well!
J Lenni Dorner (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge
I have piles of notebooks. I should type them up. I did one a few years ago, but it was a short story. I also have a story I recorded on a cassette, but no clue where that is or what I'd play it back on now. Definitely not AI, though it could probably help me type.
ReplyDeleteI've been through the same steps as you have, even though I didn't use those early stages for writing but for office work. As I now work in the IT world, I don't consider myself resistant to change or new technology, but I *love* writing, and always believed the point of robots (or AI) is to do the stuff we hate doing - the mundane and boring, so why would I want to use it to replace the good stuff? As a result, I don't use it. Hence I've written on an entirely different subject today.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for co-hosting this month!
Debs posting today from Fiction Can Be Fun
Also found at Debs Despatches
Lifeless and lacking a soul - that's how to describe what AI produces when it makes something creative. We can use it for assistance but we still need to make it come to life.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting today!
I'm with you on not using Al to write. But it can be a useful tool for other tasks. Thanks for co-hosting with me.
ReplyDeleteSeconded! It can be a great tool but it's not a replacement for human emotion and creation. I love the assist with the occasional metaphor when my brain is overwhelmed though. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI've never used AI for anything. I did look into it for promo purposes and failed, or rather gave up. Thank you for cohosting!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't used it for research but I can see where that could help. I just haven't felt the need. After all, I have a brain, right? Thank you for co-hosting this month!
ReplyDeleteI also don't understand the appeal of using AI for the creative parts of the work. Why do it if you're not engaged and excited about that bit? @samanthabwriter from
ReplyDeleteBalancing Act
Your post reminded me of my mother typing a research paper on a manual typewriter and having to type entire pages over again because she hadn't left enough room for the footnotes. LOL Young people will never know the joy we all felt when word processors were invented.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting!
Anonymously Esther O'Neill, East of the Sun, and still with no signal,
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting, Whoever organises life for me a managed a clash with first Wednesday and a house full of plumbers, who are, of course, the most vital and brilliant of all professionals. Racing through posts before the team gets back , but at least they have extracted the ancient WC that stopped weorking long ago... Extract operative word - ancient china ware was embedded in a rock and slate floor, like an impacted wisdom tooth.
I think that's the problem in a nutshell--the product of AI is flat and lifeless, albeit accurate.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't use AI for the creative aspects. I need those things to come from me. I am curious how well it will work for summarizing your work. It's something new they've got on Scrivener and I'm curious to check it out. I'm not sure how to use it for research though. I'm still figuring all this out. I've been without a computer for about three years, so getting back into all this has been a bit of a culture shock. So much has changed in such a short period of time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting!
It's interesting as well as comforting that the readers detected the "flatness" in the prose generated by AI.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting today!
https://cleemckenziebooks.substack.com/
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI too have been thinking that it can be used as a tool, but I need to read a good book that list all the options of using AI.
Thanks for co-hosting.
Shalom shalom
I remember the good old days when we had to send our manuscripts printed out and in a box. :) I'm glad some things have changed. I enjoyed hearing about your experiment!
ReplyDeleteSpellcheck is a great invention and also the web makes doing research quite easy but you do have to decide if you trust the source it came from. But that's as far as I would use tech to write. I think writers have to do the work, use their own works, be your own creative force or else it would seem like someone else is doing the work for you and that's not right.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by my blog. Have a lovely day.
Thank you yet again for co-hosting, Nancy! I remember the days of handwriting, then manually typing, and xeroxing. 😂 Let's not forget carbon paper! I stand for my own words too, although thank God for spellcheck! I'm royally messed up between American and Canadian spelling. I was just listening to a song by Benson Boone on YouTube, and he was singing about getting old. He's 23! 😂 Although in his defense, I do remember feeling old when I was 23. I do love being able to play amazing videos from anywhere and anytime. If that's AI, I have embraced it fully. Happy September!
ReplyDeleteLove the graphic at the top of your post. In it, AI looks like a spider, sending the filaments of its web everywhere. I guess, that is what the future holds, at least to some degree, whether we like it or not.
ReplyDeleteExactly on all points! I want AI to do the stuff I don't want to do, not the stuff I love to do. My voice is all mine.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting for IWSG this month. Your reflections on AI may just inspire me to take another look at its 'support' features, but, as you point out, never for the actual writing! And thank you for visiting as well. May you find many new words in September. Your productivity is impressive!
ReplyDelete