Writer Extinction? Musings About AI and ChatGPT...

This week experts, including the heads of OpenAI and Google Deepmind, including even one of AI’s godfathers, Professor Yoshua Bengio, have put their heads above the parapet and suggested that AI could lead to the extinction of humanity.

It’s a big claim. Even Elon Musk has added his voice and suggested that there should be a pause in the seemingly inexorable march of AI so that our species can take stock of its implications.

Even in its current raw form, AI is already causing ripples – particularly in the creative disciplines but also in the business world – BT has announced that it will cull almost 40% of its workforce, or 55,000 jobs, in the wake of AI developments.

In the editing arena it’s widely felt that as advanced as AI technology has become throughout the past few decades, it still lacks the ability to replicate the critical qualities, features, and skills of its human competitors.

Of course, there’s no doubt that the world is abuzz with talk of AI and all it can do to make our lives easier. It is the stuff of science fiction now come to life, and many who have predicted the emergence of AI over the years are welcoming its arrival and future advancement.

It’s true that AI programs like ChatGPT and OpenAI have revolutionized content creation and copywriting. There is no denying this, yet as intuitive as these programs may be, they are, as yet, far from capable of replacing a team of client-focused human beings. With creativity and nuance still necessary to convey human emotion, the world still needs human writers.

However, as AI develops and advances, the fear remains that it can and will become capable. Text-based AI programs can quickly spit out a comprehensive article outline in seconds and generate an entire article based on that outline in minutes. The result is a decent piece that would be acceptable to most editors and outlets.

Indeed, these programs can, in fact, be handy tools for writers and editors. They can outline drafts, generate fresh ideas, or revitalize outdated pitches. Need a little nuance? Tweak your requests within the program, and you’ll suddenly receive a completely new, computer-generated piece of perfectly acceptable copy.

These programs are able to access a remarkable amount of data and are lightning-fast. They tap into other stories, research, and content created (by humans) to generate functional pieces that accomplish what functional writing is intended to do: compile data and inform readers.

But that’s the point – functional writing. In the creative arts, functional is just about OK. AI can copy, imitate, plagiarise, steal from existing work. After all, AI is still a computer – you only get out what you put in.

In creative writing, we strive to produce (not always successfully) work that is original, inventive, and inspired by our human imagination, experience, and knowledge. Computers simply can’t replicate that. ChatGPT cannot be directed to replicate my voice, tone, rhythm, and style to produce an original piece of work. It can, of course, train itself to recognise elements of my writing from previous work – but, as a writer, with each new project I’m seeking to stand those expectations on their heads.

It could be said that the capabilities of AI programs like ChatGPT are beneficial to career writers. The outlining capabilities alone could save journalists and bloggers several hours of work each week. As long as you trust the information the program is pulling and compiling, your days of searching the internet for just the right bits of research may be numbered.

Frankly, I don’t know any writer who would scorn the opportunity to free up some of their time that would otherwise be dedicated to research and outlining. The ability of AI programs to do the frontline work of compiling data, outlining, and prompting ideas can prove essential for writers looking to maximize their productivity and output.

So with all that AI is capable of now and for all of the advancements that will come soon, writers and editors need to think of AI not as a replacement but as an additional tool in their toolbelt. AI will hopefully improve the writer’s job, but it is not on its way to replacing human writers any time soon.

That is, of course, if we all survive the extinction the experts are warning of!

Geoff Poundes is a professional developmental editor, specialising in non-fiction and in particular business, sport and history, biography and memoir. Go to www.geoffpoundeseditor.co.uk to find out more.