How Ai is changing the game for writers.

 

Photo by ThisIsEngineering: https://www.pexels.com/photo/prosthetic-arm-on-blue-background-3913025/

Writing AI has recently become famous thanks to programs like ChatGPT and Quillbot, with many spin-offs of this technology coming into play within the last few months, let alone years. These writing AIs can be used for different purposes, from being better at more formal emails to being better at creative writing. The technology has only progressed within 2022–2023, with recently big companies like Bing and Google jumping on board to adopt this technology into their software. This has been a fantastic advancement for writers across the writing sector.

This has helped me in many ways, not only to improve the quality of my writing but also to simplify my writing process and streamline how I work. An example of this is when, while doing research, I can now quickly find articles to quote from. It has meant that I can easily be more precise with proofreading to make sure that mistakes haven’t been missed, which has been a game changer, and this technology can really help with bringing more disabled writers into the space through processes that can help disabled writers create stories with fewer limitations.

Euro News states that “the Pakistani-born and Denmark-based professor believes that if used thoughtfully, AI language models could help democratize education and even give way to more knowledge.” Technology has given people access to many different viewpoints and makes research easier and more acceptable to a wider audience of students and academics. This helps people who especially struggle with sorting through information and connecting it with their work. Programs like Bing makes this process easier.

Bing Ai helps with research since, compared to ChatGPT, Bing’s bot is connected to the internet, making it easier for the bot to gather information on different topics and display it in one location, which makes it easier for writers to source their information and more easily fact-checks. Within Bing, especially since it connects to the internet, it is easier to ask questions based on the source and the topic to help with a deeper understanding. This makes the research process more enjoyable and quicker so that writers can get straight into the writing process.

Even though writing assistants can definitely help with workflow, there are still a lot of complications to come from this emerging technology. Firstly, many ethical and legal concerns exist regarding copyright and how these languages source their training data. When it comes to content like Wikipedia, this issue may not be as alarming; however, when it comes to books and published works, there is a question as to whether this is allowed, similar to the ethical issues with AI art, especially with how new these technologies are.

GPT4 and Auto GPT have already advanced this technology to a major extent. This is to the point where, with Auto GPT, it can run autonomously with only a start goal for input. This means that a lot of research can easily be done by AI, leaving the writer to focus on the creative aspects. AutoGPT.net mentions that “Auto-GPT can access the internet, remember details, and stay on task, making it an ideal tool for conducting primary market research.” This can help journalists look for topics to write about and what topics could help them stand out within SEO.

Many writers and journalists have been worried about this technology taking their jobs, especially as it advances over time. A recent example of this is Buzzfeed, which replaced the majority of its writers with AI. There is a worry that this can happen within other companies as well. Mposts states that “This week, the company announced that it was laying off 12% of its staff and replacing them with OpenAI tools. This decision has surprised many, as the company used to be a major employer of talent.” This shows that with the technology being used to cut costs, it could be a real threat to many writers in the future.

These programs don’t always work as efficiently with Chatgpt due to not currently having a way to connect to the internet, having issues with stating the wrong information, and not being able to provide the proper references for the information it gives. In the recent release of these programs, there have been the following technologies to fight against it: plagiarism checkers now take these into account. An example of this is Turn It In, which has included a feature that checks for AI-written works within its checkers.

This will soon be offset by the fact that these language models are set to improve over the coming months, let alone years. Looking back to the progress of AI art forms like stable diffusion and Midjourney, which are now tops within the AI art field, In the beginning, there was Dall-e, and soon Dall-e 2 and Mini Dall-e Mini was one of the programs that got the general public interested in the technology. AI art has slowly improved to the quality it is now, with programs like Stable Diffusion giving people more control over their outputs.

A lot of universities and workplaces have resorted to banning the use of technology to quell the issue of plagiarism. This has happened after many students publicly admitted to using programs like ChatGTP to write their essays. The BBC quotes that “A University of Bristol spokesperson said: “ChatGPT’s unauthorized use, like that of other chatbots or artificial intelligence software, would be considered a form of cheating under our assessment regulations.”

This technology has brought a lot of help to writers, but it also causes a lot of complications at the same time. In the coming years, many more legal suits may come up to define what this technology is allowed to do. This may be able to make the technology more fair and equal, but this is all very new, so like the early internet, AI still has time to grow and adapt in ways where it won’t impact the lives of creatives and even work side by side to make writing a streamlined and easier process.