Because the explanation of what this software actually does is on-point, and it cuts to the heart of something that people need to understand, but a lot of folks are resisting. Writing is not content. It's not just words. Writing is a skill, and if you don't want to actually put in the work to master the skill, then you are not a writer, and you certainly aren't employable as an author.
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| And this is particularly true when it comes to the inception of your ideas. |
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This is Actually The Fun Part For Most People
To sum up, these programs are not thinking. They are literally throwing down Scrabble tiles and doing their best to come up with something they think you want to hear. They were seeded with stolen work, they use a colossal amount of energy and water, and they create a massive amount of pollution, while also fucking up the market on computer parts (and RAM specifically). Worse, those who use these programs are basically outsourcing their own thought process. Studies have shown repeatedly that regular use of generative AI leads to lowered thought process, making you actually slower of wit the longer you use these things.
Your brain, and your creativity, have to practice. You have to build new neural pathways, and exercise new parts of your mind... if you don't, they atrophy. Simple as.
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| Look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power... |
Most people understand that typing in a prompt and hitting a button is not the same as writing a story. However, there's a particular argument I wanted to focus on in this week's update because it's something that a lot of people are stridently defending for reasons I do not grasp or understand. To paraphrase, their argument boils down to;
"But I need it to give me ideas! I just need a bit of a push to get me started."
You don't, actually.
There are literally hundreds of lists of story prompts and ideas out there if you're feeling stuck. Hell, I did a short search for lists that don't use AI, and quickly found one from E.M. Welsh, one from The Write Practice, and one from E.A. Deverell. Just like there are non-AI generators out there for character and country names that use no stolen materials, and which aren't feeding into a massive overconsumption of resources.
Hell, if you're willing to part with a few bucks, there are simple lists produced by professionals available on Drive Thru RPG, like the Steampunk Street Name Generator by Adrian Kennelly, or my own supplement 100 Dark Secrets which works just as well for writing fiction as running a tabletop game.
More importantly, though, coming up with ideas is literally the easiest part of being a writer. Hell, children can come up with ideas! All you have to do is listen to an average 8-year-old ramble on, and you'll easily have three dozen story setups in the space of 15 minutes.
Now, will they be good ideas? Probably not. But you know what? Organically generated terrible ideas full of bad grammar and no understanding of story structure are still better than the terrible ideas full of bad grammar and no understanding of story structure these Gen AI programs spit out at you hoping for a pat on the head and a tummy rub.
You Are What Makes The Story
As was mentioned repeatedly in the Medium piece, most of what people claim these programs can do they actually can't. It's just snake oil salesmen promising you that this tonic will absolutely regrow your hair, add inches to your dick size, help you lose weight, and make your ex-wife love you again when it's just a bottle of piss mixed with ink.
It isn't a useful tool, and there are already non-AI options for people who genuinely need a little boost, or a story prompt, or some inspiration.
Most importantly, though, the thing that I feel a lot of people need to understand is that it's the writer's skill that makes or breaks a story. You can have an amazing story seed full of emotional potential and solid character concepts, but if you give it to someone with no experience or skill then they're probably going to flounder the same way as if you asked a 13-year-old with no drawing experience to recreate the Sistene Chapel ceiling using nothing more than a mechanical pencil and a few sheets of graph paper. However, you can also take a ridiculous premise or an absurd concept, hand it to an experienced writer, and they will mold it into a story that will make people laugh, cry, and demand to know why they're feeling things from such a dumb story.
Perfect examples of this are my animal-noir novel Marked Territory, or even my recent short story Gav and Bob: Sanguinala Redux which (apparently) brought a lot of Warhammer 40K fans to tears.
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| Seriously, check it out if you haven't read it yet! |
And to reiterate one of the responses on Facebook to the Medium article, if you cannot perform the most basic task of being a writer (coming up with a story idea), then why do you think you should be at the table for a company making video games, a TV series, or writing novels? If you don't actually put in the work to make something, why are you trying so hard to convince others (and yourself) that you're a real writer?
This is not about good or bad. There are plenty of writers and authors out there that I think are lacking in skill and talent. But you know what? If that thing they wrote came from inside of them, and they put those words on the page, I won't do anything to disparage that achievement. We don't have to be bosom companions, but they're more than welcome into the writer's club as far as I'm concerned.
And if you're someone who is so sure they need Gen AI to be a writer, ask yourself why. What does this plagiarism software do that you can't do yourself? If you know the issues with it, and the cost of using it to the environment and yourself, then why are you insisting on using it instead of one of the other, safer tools out there?
It's never too late to delete these things, and start the hard work of writing. And if you're feeling stuck on ideas, go to a writer's group, and ask to start a brainstorming thread. Talk with other writers, and get a conversation going. You might be surprised what they have to say, and how much they're willing to help.
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