In the season of AI, writers are feeling the heat

Hyderabad: As AI develops more and more each day, humans are in a frenzy, anxious about their future. What if AI replaces me? How will I survive? It has stirred up tension in every industry, thanks to its ability to do so many things with such precision.

Never in a million years could someone have believed that AI or robots would write poetry, paint, make music, etc. One thing we humans could do best is be creative, we may not be very precise - we are not machines, come on! But, creativity? It’s just our thing. But, now due to the famously infamous Chat-GPT; our creativity can also be recreated by AI. It doesn’t just stop here; news channels are replacing human anchors with AI anchors, though many argue that AI reporters cannot express emotions quite like a human.

However, the major profession that is most vulnerable to AI is that of writers. If you prompt AI to write any content piece, it can do so in seconds. AI is great and all, but can it match the creativity of the human mind? There is no yes or no answer to this question, but one thing is for sure, that AI tools like ChatGPT are here to stay.

Who owns the Copyright of AI’s ideas?

AI has already entered Hollywood’s writers' room and has gained a major seat at the table. The Hollywood writers are already on strike to fight the AI. Many Hollywood studios are utilizing AI more and more, undermining the work of writers.

One more issue of using AI is that of copyright, it is difficult to point out who owns the copyright of the script that AI suggests. Also, the data it has been trained on may or may not be from the right sources. There have been cases where many authors' books have been uploaded on shady sites to feed them to artificial intelligence and recognize patterns.

Along with that writers are losing their autonomy on their scripts. Producers and executives want scripts in a shorter period. (Capitalism in its full glory if you will). Writing a script takes weeks, sometimes even years of work. First, they bounce ideas off of each other, and then slowly and steadily they weave the plot, which is now getting replaced by a few minutes because of AI. The quality can suffer because of this.

It is also important to note that AI is trained from the sum of the content available on the internet. Think of it as ‘what goes around comes around’ kind of way. So, the storylines and writing prompts that AI suggests can get repetitive in the long run. AI is trained to recognize patterns and suggest answers that would best suit the given situation. So, in the long run, its answers may start sounding the same and may lack variety.

Can Writers & AI coexist?

We have no control over the changes that come our way. We have been through industrialization and technological change before too. These changes wiped out many people from their jobs. The only thing that we can control is how we respond to these changes. It’s whether you change with the changes or get drowned and out of business owing to these changes. Because it is inevitable. AI has many benefits that need to be taken into account. It saves you time, and it can give you answers that may not be up to your standards but they can be brushed up. Going forward writers and the entire creative communities need to adapt and ride the AI wave or risk losing business to it.

What does AI have to say in all this?

When asked about AI replacing writers soon. AI replied that it has many merits that can enhance the work of a writer. It can save precious time when you have quick turnarounds. It can write poetries, songs, Ad jingles, etc. It can help you create a rough draft that will help you weave the stories better. What it lacks is wisdom that can only be gained through life experiences. It lacks emotional subtleties that lie beneath the surface. It lacks morals that drive human behaviors and characteristics. In reality, it lacks the creative spark that humans have. No matter how intuitive, it can not come close to the beauty and intelligence of the human mind.

How writers can work with AI

Use it for brainstorming

AI has all the benefits, you can imagine. It has been fed so much data, it is intelligent and can give you answers in a jiffy. So, if used wisely it can do all the major heavy lifting like researching the topic, fact checks, etc. It can also give you various ideas, you can use it for brainstorming. You can ask it to elevate your work further. The bottom line is that it can be like your sidekick, it can give you ideas but you are in control. You decide whether you want to go ahead with those ideas or not, or you want to tweak them. AI may not express deep emotions in its work quite like humans, but you can always edit. Think of it as an ally, something you work with, your work doesn't end here. It is just getting started. Adding the human touch to AI-generated content is what will make the difference. When someone or something is more competent, and more intelligent than you, it is wise to bring them on your team rather than competing against them.

Less time, more projects

We know well enough by now that AI can generate answers quickly within a few minutes. As it is trained to detect patterns and give you answers based on that. The best part about using AI for your writing is that you don’t need to write the whole thing, you just need to edit, which doesn't cost a lot of time. This also means that you can work on many projects, as it won't take you too long to finish a certain project. The more projects you work on, the more money you can earn, and the more time you can spend on projects that interest you. So in a way, AI can help you earn more.

Be the main character

Don’t let technology push you around. Take charge, you are the main character. You decide which idea can be worked with, and which ideas need to be tossed. AI is not here to suppress your creativity, it can help you amplify it tenfold. It is here to be your best friend, it is here to facilitate you, without taking anything away from you. AI can also help you write in your unique voice. So that you can focus on what's important. It gives you time, and energy to delve deeper into the plot and how the story unfolds. You can dive deeper into the mindsets of your characters. When you use AI, you are no longer limiting yourself to what you know best. But you also open yourself up to possibilities of many different things, which can take your writing game, and your storytelling game to a whole new level. In the end, it is important to not lose sight of who controls whom. Just remember you have the autonomy to work with the ideas suggested or toss them out and start afresh.

So, What’s the Future?

Will AI replace writers entirely? Cannot be said for sure. But with the advent of AI and tools like ChatGPT, it is clear that these tools are here to stay. Whether you like it or hate it, you cannot simply ignore it, also it is not going to die down soon. History repeats itself. Earlier industrial revolution took many artisans and hand craft artists out of business because they did not adapt well to the changes and were a little rigid and tended to their ways. And now we are here; yet again, technology has taken center stage and we are forced to change with it. The choice is entirely yours. Whether you want to use it to your advantage and make it your sidekick, or a villain and risk being taken down from your movie.

(Author: This article is written by Karishma Chandnani from TechDoQuest, a Canada-based software development company. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect that of NewsMeter)