Great piece. Very balanced and yes, you’re right - it’s all about the voice for me and the fact that AI generated stuff is so homogeneous! Those blummin metaphors and conclusion pars….🙄
I wonder as well, Martin, whether people flock to AI because they feel they can't write anything worthwhile. That could be a part of it as well. I hope not, but based on what a lot of people tell me about how they feel they don't have anything worthwhile to write, I can see this being a possibility. Thanks for commenting on my post, by the way.
You're probably right about that concern that there's nothing to write. But I'm sure people have many things worth writing about, and either don't realise or feel the friction between what they'd like to say and what they *think* they should be saying.
I've just this moment hit publish on a massive post on the friction creatives feel, funnily enough.
And you're more than welcome on the comment, Thomas (or Tom, as I'm following you on your other account too!). Those tips certainly ring true. Happy blogging and, indeed, happy writing!
This made me absolutely grin while reading - the jumble was beautiful and chaotic and authentic and I love it. I could use AI to write my work or even "better it" but I started my substack for expression and creativity and just pure writing from the soul. If I use AI, maybe I'll get more popular with well crafted quipps and metaphors and buzz words, but I'll lose who I am in the process. My voice. Thank you for reaffirming this 💛 (p.s the jumble definitely made me subscribe 😂)
Hehe! Lovely to have you on board, thank you. Here's to the most authentic creative expression. Plus the chaos!
I use AI loads, but more to work on ideas before writing and to make light edits after writing. Even the light edits need good prompting, because the AI sure enjoys a total rewrite...aaaaand then the voice disappears again. You know, replaced by the metaphor soup. 😆
AI doing the creative writing - a disturbing thought. I’d never considered it; probably I’m naïve. Thanks, though, for a fresh perspective. (And I’m very glad to hear that the AI writing isn’t as good!)
Thanks, Thomas! The outputs can be filled with creativity, but I don't mind because:
- the AI can't be curious;
- the best creative outputs still tend to be statistically ordinary (especially with poetry);
- there are no personal stories or properly engaging anecdotes and conversations;
- the most creative outputs are impressive once or twice, but they end up following a formula that sounds similar every time.
These are just some reasons. The poetry serves as a good example...When I prompt it to write anything other than a pretty standard rhyming poem, it still writes a standard rhyming poem. I have to push in very specific ways before the algorithm deviates from classic styles. So much hard work when I could actually write it myself!
But I do find the AI useful for so many reasons, that I'm certainly not complaining about it on that basis.
Still, here's to curiosity and writing our fresh perspectives and personal stories!
Great piece. Very balanced and yes, you’re right - it’s all about the voice for me and the fact that AI generated stuff is so homogeneous! Those blummin metaphors and conclusion pars….🙄
You could say the metaphors are a never ending stream, a firehose, a broken dam of tangential comparators!
In conclusion, we wrote this comment ourself.
Erm... 🤔🤫
I wonder as well, Martin, whether people flock to AI because they feel they can't write anything worthwhile. That could be a part of it as well. I hope not, but based on what a lot of people tell me about how they feel they don't have anything worthwhile to write, I can see this being a possibility. Thanks for commenting on my post, by the way.
You're probably right about that concern that there's nothing to write. But I'm sure people have many things worth writing about, and either don't realise or feel the friction between what they'd like to say and what they *think* they should be saying.
I've just this moment hit publish on a massive post on the friction creatives feel, funnily enough.
And you're more than welcome on the comment, Thomas (or Tom, as I'm following you on your other account too!). Those tips certainly ring true. Happy blogging and, indeed, happy writing!
This made me absolutely grin while reading - the jumble was beautiful and chaotic and authentic and I love it. I could use AI to write my work or even "better it" but I started my substack for expression and creativity and just pure writing from the soul. If I use AI, maybe I'll get more popular with well crafted quipps and metaphors and buzz words, but I'll lose who I am in the process. My voice. Thank you for reaffirming this 💛 (p.s the jumble definitely made me subscribe 😂)
Hehe! Lovely to have you on board, thank you. Here's to the most authentic creative expression. Plus the chaos!
I use AI loads, but more to work on ideas before writing and to make light edits after writing. Even the light edits need good prompting, because the AI sure enjoys a total rewrite...aaaaand then the voice disappears again. You know, replaced by the metaphor soup. 😆
Absolutely so true, I've found by the time I've given it all the prompts and information I may as well as written it myself 😂
AI doing the creative writing - a disturbing thought. I’d never considered it; probably I’m naïve. Thanks, though, for a fresh perspective. (And I’m very glad to hear that the AI writing isn’t as good!)
Thanks, Thomas! The outputs can be filled with creativity, but I don't mind because:
- the AI can't be curious;
- the best creative outputs still tend to be statistically ordinary (especially with poetry);
- there are no personal stories or properly engaging anecdotes and conversations;
- the most creative outputs are impressive once or twice, but they end up following a formula that sounds similar every time.
These are just some reasons. The poetry serves as a good example...When I prompt it to write anything other than a pretty standard rhyming poem, it still writes a standard rhyming poem. I have to push in very specific ways before the algorithm deviates from classic styles. So much hard work when I could actually write it myself!
But I do find the AI useful for so many reasons, that I'm certainly not complaining about it on that basis.
Still, here's to curiosity and writing our fresh perspectives and personal stories!
Thanks so much, Martin. I really appreciate getting your informed perspective!