What is AI writing?
As I wrote a little while ago, there’s a considerable brouhaha surrounding NaNoWriMo’s decision to allow participants to use generative AI for their “contest.” And I said that people are losing their minds over this need to get with the program. In short, AI is here to stay; it will only get more robust, and complaining will change nothing.
Educate yourself. Learn to use these tools. If you don’t, you will get left behind and only have yourself to blame.
I’ve been tinkering with various generative AI tools, including those for writing. I’ve distinguished between AI writing and writing with AI. The former is where the user has the AI generate the text, and either do no or minimal editing.
While there’s nothing wrong with this — as I pointed out previously, authors like James Patterson have others write their output all the time — it’s worth looking critically at because it blurs the line between creator and writer. What do we call someone who engineered the prompt for a great story? Exactly.
Meanwhile, writing with AI is something else. That’s when a writer uses generative AI to enhance existing writing. Maybe they use AI to goose their language or allow something like ProWritingAid or Grammarly to revise the text. This is a simple matter of using practical tools, not replacing the writer in producing prose.
Stop panicking! There is no point screaming about the sky falling. It’s not; writing will survive, and everyone stands to gain.