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Penny Harrison's avatar

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….🙄

Martin Hughes's avatar

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... 🤔🤫

Thomas Kuegler's avatar

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.

Martin Hughes's avatar

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!

Thomas Rist's avatar

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!)

Martin Hughes's avatar

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!

Thomas Rist's avatar

Thanks so much, Martin. I really appreciate getting your informed perspective!

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Mar 12, 2024
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Martin Hughes's avatar

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. 😆