Today’s IWSG prompt is one that is sure to spark some conversations. I haven’t written one of these reflections in a while, but I thought it was time.
Insecure Writer’s Support Group asked, “What are your thoughts on using AI, such as GPChat, Raptor, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, story bible, or creating outlines\beats?”
Before I answer, feel free to join in, too. You can sign up for your blog here and subscribe to their newsletter to get the following prompt for October.
Anyways, onto my thoughts about AI.
First, a quick answer is that I don’t like to use AI for my creative writing at all. I don’t want AI anywhere near my creative self.
And the reason is maybe a bit more complex than the obvious. First, I don’t think AI is all that helpful for planning, researching, or gaining inspiration. Sure, it can probably regurgitate some stuff. But using AI misses what is beautiful about the creative process.
Our stories and poems and essays come from our own personal, learned experiences. Or they come from scraps of things in the world that inspire us. Or things that become inexplicable sparks of creativity for reasons we can’t quite pinpoint. We save and collect these sources of inspiration, and eventually sometimes, it turns into something creative.
Like the story I’m working on now is about an air quality warning set some time in the future. And this was inspired years ago by a water boiling notice I got in my neighborhood. And another story I’m working on is about virtual reality, somewhat inspired by my own former interest in the game The Sims.
My mannequin story (The Mannequin of Lot 18), which was published a couple of years ago, was inspired by a weird newspaper photo I had of a man driving a bus filled with mannequins. I honestly have no idea where it came from, yet it became a spark for the story. Another one of mine that got published (You Spelled Carrot Wrong) was inspired by an actual company I worked for, where a stupid word got popular.
And a flash fiction story of mine happened because of my response to a writing prompt I created myself (using a photo and five words).
These are the scraps of things that spark ideas for me. Not AI.
And I think there’s another thing about AI that people miss. I truly believe it weakens our own creativity. I’ve heard recently that a study showed people relying on AI resulted in a noticeably negative impact on productivity.
In fact, I think technology should have little involvement in our creative lives. I don’t blame some people for turning to things like typewriters for their first drafts. My laptop has become a hub for my freelance work and side business. It’s a machine I associate with work, not creativity. I have started using Cold Turkey’s distraction-free writing tool to get the juices flowing when on my laptop.
And not to mention, what is gross about AI is that actual authors’ books were used to train it. Books were purchased and trained on without anyone’s permission. (Oh look, there’s also a lawsuit about that!).
Someone may wonder, why is this different from some ordinary schmoe getting inspiration from a TV show they watch or a book they’ve read? Well, that is different. Because that sort of inspiration (unless you’re actively looking for a way to plagiarize someone else’s work, which is a totally different problem), ends up being filtered through the lens of our own experiences, interests, and unique ways of seeing the world.
Like, sure, Twilight Zone inspires me, but it’s what Twilight Zone represents to me that inspires me. I love that the show can take ordinary moments and turn them around into weird or unexplainable scenarios. That is what inspires me.
And there’s another level. AI is a slippery slope. Sure, you may reason away that it’s okay to use it for outlining. Or even inspiration. But I think there’s a dangerous temptation that result in more and more reliance and usage.
Take social media, for example. We’ve all come to accept that an abundance of social media is bad for us. Not only does it lead to comparing our lives to a filtered version of someone else’s life, it can also be addictive. And the whole doomscrolling thing can lead me to waste hours on something not good for me. It’s like spending the day eating a family-sized bag of chips. It gives me nothing.
AI is the same way. I think it’s bad for us, and I think in ten years we’ll see the fruits of that impact on the world. If not sooner. It’s also bad for the environment, by the way. But I digress…
So, there we are. There’s my opinion.
I wouldn’t use Al for writing either. And your examples of where you got your ideas for your stories shows that the ideas are all around us. I do think that Al is a tool that can be helpful for non-creative writing tasks, like research.
True! It could be helpful for research.
It’s funny, I completely agree with everything you said, and yet I had an opposite experience. I’ve been a creative person my entire life, but recent events have led to a crater in my creative output and mood. Playing around with AI, having discussions and sharing stories with it, have done wonders for my inspiration. I have 40+ years of ideas in my head, but I couldn’t get them out. Having a “writing assistant” to bounce ideas off of has been tremendous. Would doing this with an actual human writing partner be better? Probably. But that’s not always an option.
Trust me, I’ve been skeptical of AI for a long time. I know there is many, many ways it can be abused, and many ways it can negatively impact humans. But for me, in this situation, it’s been very helpful, so I can also see the advantages.
That’s good you found a way to use that’s helpful!
I definitely wouldn’t use it for writing. I did play with one AI editing generator with one of my old manuscripts just to see what it would do. The suggestions it made were good, but it removed my voice. It wasn’t how I write, so I would never use it seriously for even editing my work.
I also don’t like the idea of them using people’s work (whether it’s writing or art) without permission to program their AI.
The only AI tool I’ve really used regularly so far is for art. I’m not an artist by any means, so it’s fun to come up with concept art for my worlds and characters. My kiddo is an artist and wants to do my artwork for me, so having that as a way to show them what I’m after is really helpful. The thing I like about the site I use is that they only teach their AI from donated artwork or from artists who are long gone. And nothing I create there is ever going to be used publicly. It’s just for my personal use, and I share it on the site for feedback from others.
AI can be a great tool if it’s used right, but the problem is, there are a lot of people out there who don’t want to put in the hard work. I’ve used fantasy name and idea generators for years, but to this day, I’ve never used the ideas generated for me. While going through their ideas, it sparked my imagination, and I came up with my own thing. It’s great for getting you unstuck and get the creative juices flowing, but that’s about all.
I do think it can be good for art, especially if you need help visualizing a scene or character.
Most writers share your thoughts on AI, Nicola. We want to create our own thing. We don’t need something created for us.
AI can’t be inspired by anything. It still requires our creative input to produce anything. Might as well just create it ourselves!
I couldn’t agree more about it weakening our creativity. There’s already evidence mounting that students who use it show less brain development. What do they need to develop if the machine does the thinking?
I’m sure most creative artists would chime with your opinion. Creativity has to come from breathing people, not a machine. But it is a worrying point that our creativity and inspiration might degrade as AI tries to take over more tasks.
True, AI doesn’t have proper human experiences to draw upon. Which is probably why it yearns to “learn” from us.
“Let’s strive to be better in September!” – Charmaine J. Forde #quote
My new novelette came out on the ninth. Today is my #bookiversary for Fractions of Existence (urban fantasy).
My condiments post is on the A to Z site. Hope you’re well!
J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) @JLenniDorner ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge