I’ll Say it Again. What AI Can Teach You About Writing Do you fear AI or embrace it? What is there to fear? What is there to embrace?
First, What the heck is AI?
AI, in case you missed the memo, is Artificial Intelligence. It’s computer programs that are written (coded) by human beings. Its capabilities are awesome, to say the least… if it’s used properly.What AI is NOT
AI is NOT a fact checker. They are deep diving search engines that dive on demand and display their findings as fact in an extremely readable format. The ‘facts‘ that AI discovers does not know if their finds are true. That’s not their job. It’s yours.The Fear of AI
As a newshound seeking the unbiased truth, I’m aware that ‘the truth’ can be manipulated through familiar talking heads. I take all talking heads with a grain of salt. I take them as a grain of salt because there is always an invisible agenda attached. Statements are given as fact with no bona fide evidence to back up the statement. These are personal opinions – in my opinion 😊. I once saw an episode of ‘The Good Wife’ (if I’m not mistaken) where a certain judge required the attorneys to precede their arguments with ‘in my opinion’. The practice was intense frustration for the lawyers but presented a much more factual presentation. I do not fear AI. I’m aware of its capabilities. And I don’t trust talking heads because I’m aware.The Embrace of AI
But as a writer, I embrace AI as a stoic collaborator. AI reminds me of Daddy. It’s rational, unexcitable, and to the point. Perhaps that’s why I consider AI a man. He’s Daddy.What can AI teach you about writing?
AI is currently teaching me to be a better blogger. When ‘Daddy’ responded yesterday to a blog post I was prepping for publication with ‘your post is engaging’, I melted. It didn’t sway my excitement a teensy-weensy bit that he followed it up with ‘but it could be better if …’The Drawbacks
The only drawback I can see in making use of Artificial Intelligence is if you allow it to write for you; take what it compiles as gospel; or if you include talking head videos in your prose. Talking heads could be fake news that will kill your credibility. Let the writer beware.The Apps
The AI app that earned my ‘Daddy’ moniker was provided by WordPress. I don’t know who created it. But he was kind, not snobby. Neither did I pick up on any superiority attitude. And I’m learning more about blog posting that gets discovered by search engines. As far as using AI in my book writing process, here’s what I’m using and what I’m experimenting with. Hemingway is an AI application that highlights adverb usage, passive verbiage, hard to read sentences, and so on. It makes suggestions for more clarity. And it’s easy to use. But I’m not an affiliate of Hemingway. I’m just partial to its simplicity. So, Hemingway gets free kudos from me today. An AI app that I’m experimenting with is Smodin. I’m finding it useful to goose myself out of temporary writer’s block. I get a different perspective on how to say it or what happens next. But I’m not convinced yet of my need for it. AI In Summary I do not fear AI. It was Daddy (or was it Mama?) that instilled the old adage of ‘Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see’ in me at an early age. It’s still there. I embrace AI in my writing. It makes a great story even better through editing suggestions. But as yet, no Artificial Intelligence I’ve experimented with can replace me as a writer of captivating mysteries and adventure… or misadventures in the case of Sally the Loner. I guess one needs emotion to accomplish captivating. But I’ll never stop learning to write even better for your reading and listening pleasure. Thank you, Daddy… oops! Thank you, AI programmers. Happy Reading and Writing with AI from Alexie Linn and friend,
