The Age of A.I. and Writing - Shelley Ann Vrgleski

When I think of AI, a couple of movie series comes to mind. Does the “Terminator” or the “Matrix” ring any bells? Whether we will go that far or not is debatable. While AI may not yet be that advanced, is it possible some form of AI could take over in the future? How do we control the creation/use of AI from getting into the wrong hands? Or is it already there? Who knows.

The only sure thing we know is that Artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved exponentially over the past few years. There is a huge push on using AI in all businesses… predictive texting, curating lists, generating images, writing tools, research, search engines, learning/teaching, chat, and website creation/management apps (like WordPress) are just a few applications. AI is a game-changer in many respects. Is it perfect? Not yet, but it’s learning.

AI generated image

I don’t think anyone can deny that AI will impact how we write in some way. There is immense potential in the use of AI in many ways with respect to writing, which may include – in the simplest of terms – drafting potential story outlines/summaries, creating character profiles, and grammar checks. AI can create stories and poetry based on user input. And I’ve seen it draft an entire story chapter in under a minute with just a few words of direction.

AI can search for any subject in a matter of seconds and return with a list of linkages from across the internet. Are there limitations to AI writing? Sure there is, but just think of how efficient and more productive it can make a writer. How many more books or poems can you write when half the work is done for you in a fraction of the time it would take you? Are there challenges with AI writing? Yep. Copyright. AI errors. Loss of writer creativity. Emotionality.

It’s one of the biggest changes in human history… something that will impact pretty much everything and everyone. So, as a writer, what is our role in all of this? Well, perhaps instead of rejecting it outright, think about what it could do to help you in your own writing process. Are you up for more of a collaborative/brainstorming effort with your AI “partner”? I’m thinking ideation and perhaps first draft editor. And if you’re into creating illustrations, AI may help you with that too. (see AI generated images on this page)

I’ll be testing AI in future works. If nothing else, it may provide me with some ideas for interesting stories and creative poetry.

So I asked Bing Copilot a question about what people/organizations are saying about AI used in writing, and it gave me this response: