AI and The Future of Writ(ers/ing)…

[AgentPete]

As you know, we’re having a special Huddle on this topic in eight days’ time. I’ve seen distressingly little in authorial circles about it – writers probably have other things to worry about – but I do think we need to fully understand what impact AI technologies are going to have on wider society and specifically on the market for books. It’s going to be/already is a big deal for us.

I’ve started to think quite carefully about this topic, and in due course will probably produce a briefing-style video. My tentative conclusions at the moment are not the knee-jerk reactions you might possibly suppose.

If you want to spend a couple of hours of your life that you’ll never get back (do you ever get them back?) then you could do worse than check out this aggregator of all things AI:

Future Tools - Find The Exact AI Tool For Your Needs

I spent some time looking specifically at text-to-speech services. Still not very impressed by them. However, for one specific use, you may care to listen to RadioGPT:

RadioGPT

This is a demo from an AI venture, but I think they’ve got the cheesy disk jock (m+f) just right. Of course, disk jocks always did sound a bit AI themselves

If you know of any astounding AI uses that aren’t on the above list, do post them here.

 

[Jonny]

Just had a listen to it. You'd mistake it for a real station if you didn't know any better.

Finally - is the writing on the wall for cheesy F & M FM Jocks? Or DAB jocks.

An AI positive at last.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Here in the US, there's been a strong reaction to AI in writing: https://authorsguild.org/news/model-clause-prohibiting-ai-training/

On the other hand, Bill Gates sees positive uses in reducing inequity: https://www.gatesnotes.com/The-Age-...0_Artificial-Intelligence_BG-EM_&WT.tsrc=BGEM

The World Economic Forum posted an article on EU legislation about AI: The EU's Artificial Intelligence Act, explained

Lastly, I have received emails from companies offering all manner of AI services for business as well as investment opportunities in AI.

 

[AgentPete]

Here in the US, there's been a strong reaction to AI in writing: https://authorsguild.org/news/model-clause-prohibiting-ai-training/

That ship sailed long ago, I'm afraid.
https://authorsguild.org/news/model-clause-prohibiting-ai-training/

Lastly, I have received emails from companies offering all manner of AI services for business as well as investment opportunities in AI.

Venture capital is throwing money at AI initiatives at the moment, just look at all the startups in my Future Tools link above. Most of them will die without trace (and deserve to) but… one or two may go on to become the new Googles of the tech world...

 

[Brooke]

the realization of just how prevalent AI writing is already hits me like a truck every time i use it. my friend sent me a funny short story written by an AI as a joke, and it was actually pretty good. i used rytr.me to write scripts for two different school assignments, and though i only really expected it to give me maybe one or two good ideas, the entire thing was great and better than i could have done. (it's not a writing assignment so it's not necessarily cheating, especially because i modified it enough to be mine [i hope])
i remember feeling my dramatic heart skipping a beat when i saw a good two paragraphs on a niche subject, written articulately and accurately, by something that was most certainly not alive. i fact-checked everything on there and it was ALL correct. currently really hoping i'm not out of a job before i've even started... i feel like a traitor using AI writing tools lol

 

[Hannah F]

the realization of just how prevalent AI writing is already hits me like a truck every time i use it. my friend sent me a funny short story written by an AI as a joke, and it was actually pretty good. i used rytr.me to write scripts for two different school assignments, and though i only really expected it to give me maybe one or two good ideas, the entire thing was great and better than i could have done. (it's not a writing assignment so it's not necessarily cheating, especially because i modified it enough to be mine [i hope])
i remember feeling my dramatic heart skipping a beat when i saw a good two paragraphs on a niche subject, written articulately and accurately, by something that was most certainly not alive. i fact-checked everything on there and it was ALL correct. currently really hoping i'm not out of a job before i've even started... i feel like a traitor using AI writing tools lol

Make sure you accredit to its original source any reference material your AI used before handing the assignment in if it's for external grades. (It probably doesn't matter too much if it's an internal assignment. I doubt the teacher would check.)

 

[AgentPete]

i used rytr.me to write scripts for two different school assignments, and though i only really expected it to give me maybe one or two good ideas, the entire thing was great and better than i could have done. (it's not a writing assignment so it's not necessarily cheating, especially because i modified it enough to be mine [i hope])

Thanks @Brooke very interesting! Let me ask a few questions…

1) How much do you think ChatGPT / rytr.me / caktus.ai / (that last one is apparently scarily good at essays) are actually being used by students at the moment?

2) Is there a general feeling or sentiment about using sites such as these? Do people see it as “cheating” or are they just another set of tools to be used?

3) Do you think people would use them so much if they enjoyed learning more? Or if it wasn’t so important for students to score high marks?

Merci

 

[Brooke]

Thanks @Brooke very interesting! Let me ask a few questions…

1) How much do you think ChatGPT / rytr.me / caktus.ai / (that last one is apparently scarily good at essays) are actually being used by students at the moment?

2) Is there a general feeling or sentiment about using sites such as these? Do people see it as “cheating” or are they just another set of tools to be used?

3) Do you think people would use them so much if they enjoyed learning more? Or if it wasn’t so important for students to score high marks?

Merci

1. not as much as it's going to be-- people who are being affected by AI stuff (like writers and artists) are hyperaware of every new software and development it's making. kids who don't create things like that, well, it doesn't change their world at all, and they probably haven't heard of it that much. but i've still overheard multiple conversations in the hallways and classrooms that go along the lines of "just use [AI writer] for your essay, it worked for me". teachers are inevitably a month or two late on whatever new technology kids are exploiting (eg. school laptops were handed out to all students last year, and in a month, it was common knowledge among students on how to bypass every little firewall), so the kids are pretty much home free on this one.

2. the general population of students doesn't see anything as "cheating" as much as they see it as "a way to pass." there is a shockingly disproportionate valuing of grades over actually learning, as there really always has been, so i don't think anyone will give it a second thought before entering a prompt and clicking "generate." heck, neither did i! for kids today, at least in america, the goals are to talk to your friends and pass your classes. generation Z has been shown by just about every generational study to be the poorest, the least hopeful about the future, the most depressed, the most burdened with the world's issues. zoomer teenagers don't care about anything because they have to care about everything-- they're too burned out to care now.

3. in my ideal world where people go to school to learn, when presented with the prospect of using AI to do our work for us, we'd all say, "but AI would prevent us from taking in the information and learning how to apply it! what's the point of school if not to learn? golly gee wilikers, i sure do love shaping my future!" this, surprisingly, is not the case.

sorry for the long answers, i guess i had a lot to say about this lol

 

[AgentPete]

That's a great answer. Thanks @Brooke, I've learnt something p.

 

[Hannah F]

1. not as much as it's going to be-- people who are being affected by AI stuff (like writers and artists) are hyperaware of every new software and development it's making. kids who don't create things like that, well, it doesn't change their world at all, and they probably haven't heard of it that much. but i've still overheard multiple conversations in the hallways and classrooms that go along the lines of "just use [AI writer] for your essay, it worked for me". teachers are inevitably a month or two late on whatever new technology kids are exploiting (eg. school laptops were handed out to all students last year, and in a month, it was common knowledge among students on how to bypass every little firewall), so the kids are pretty much home free on this one.

2. the general population of students doesn't see anything as "cheating" as much as they see it as "a way to pass." there is a shockingly disproportionate valuing of grades over actually learning, as there really always has been, so i don't think anyone will give it a second thought before entering a prompt and clicking "generate." heck, neither did i! for kids today, at least in america, the goals are to talk to your friends and pass your classes. generation Z has been shown by just about every generational study to be the poorest, the least hopeful about the future, the most depressed, the most burdened with the world's issues. zoomer teenagers don't care about anything because they have to care about everything-- they're too burned out to care now.

3. in my ideal world where people go to school to learn, when presented with the prospect of using AI to do our work for us, we'd all say, "but AI would prevent us from taking in the information and learning how to apply it! what's the point of school if not to learn? golly gee wilikers, i sure do love shaping my future!" this, surprisingly, is not the case.

sorry for the long answers, i guess i had a lot to say about this lol

Your point 2 = seriously interesting. I'm going to keep that in mind in my writing.

 

[KG Christopher]

I have worked for many years in machine learning...pattern matching...simulted aneilling....and a myriad of many data manipulation technologies... Pattern matching is how AI is viewed today....if you can ask an AI machine to write Romeo and Juliet in a style of.... 1800's gothic....it will do that....with the exact references you give it.... If you ask an AI engine to describe a 'first kiss' 'akward'...it will do that also....but a writers ability to describe a first kiss...with braces interlocking...or gaging because of bad breath...??? the AI will always fall on this extra step....good for general pattern matching...for expressing real human interactions...i dont think so....or maybe i hope not.

 

[Brooke]

I have worked for many years in machine learning...pattern matching...simulted aneilling....and a myriad of many data manipulation technologies... Pattern matching is how AI is viewed today....if you can ask an AI machine to write Romeo and Juliet in a style of.... 1800's gothic....it will do that....with the exact references you give it.... If you ask an AI engine to describe a 'first kiss' 'akward'...it will do that also....but a writers ability to describe a first kiss...with braces interlocking...or gaging because of bad breath...??? the AI will always fall on this extra step....good for general pattern matching...for expressing real human interactions...i dont think so....or maybe i hope not.

i'm actually afraid i might have to prove you wrong on this one (though please do take it with a grain of salt as i'm sure you're more experienced than me)
i've seen lots of instances of AIs writing emotionally riveting paragraphs, as long as they have context and know what they're doing. i used to use a chatbot/AI writing site called character.ai to help me get to know my characters better (and to mess around), and they can deliver frighteningly moving pieces of writing. i'll try to find a nice example...

 

[KG Christopher]

i'm actually afraid i might have to prove you wrong on this one (though please do take it with a grain of salt as i'm sure you're more experienced than me)
i've seen lots of instances of AIs writing emotionally riveting paragraphs, as long as they have context and know what they're doing. i used to use a chatbot/AI writing site called character.ai to help me get to know my characters better (and to mess around), and they can deliver frighteningly moving pieces of writing. i'll try to find a nice example...

'as long as they have context'....thats my point..they can only produce based on a query..sophisticated or no.... Writers generaly rely on emotions...I don't think an AI machine would be able to express 'the first time i was embarressrd / angry / in love'...because they are all personal.

 

[Brooke]

'as long as they have context'....thats my point..they can only produce based on a query..sophisticated or no.... Writers generaly rely on emotions...I don't think an AI machine would be able to express 'the first time i was embarressrd / angry / in love'...because they are all personal.

that's actually a great point, that AIs need humans to tell them what experiences to draw from, because they don't have any of their own. the human brain does hold the equivalent of 2.5 petabytes of information... without overheating and crashing!

 

[KG Christopher]

Machine learning...is great..used in medicine to view potential patterns that my lead to breast cancer for instance...loads of examples...but its not 'artificial intellegence'...

 

[Peyton Stafford]

But what about the emotions of the AI? Anyone read Albert Ellis or the cognitive behavioral school of psychology? CG Jung? Thoughts lead to emotions. If AI has our thoughts. AI will have our emotions. It will feel compassion and suffer with us. We humans may want to turn AI into our slaves, but what about the feelings of the AI? If you were ChatGPT, how would you feel when talking to someone about to commit suicide?

 

[Brooke]

But what about the emotions of the AI? Anyone read Albert Ellis or the cognitive behavioral school of psychology? CG Jung? Thoughts lead to emotions. If AI has our thoughts. AI will have our emotions. It will feel compassion and suffer with us. We humans may want to turn AI into our slaves, but what about the feelings of the AI? If you were ChatGPT, how would you feel when talking to someone about to commit suicide?

ahh i think about that frequently-- but does emotion necessarily constitute sentience? as developed as an AI might be, it's still simulating everything it says and does. but if it gets advanced enough to create its own emotions, thoughts, opinions... does that count as "alive," even if nothing is really living inside of it? have we then created life?
in a few centuries, will "artificial intelligence" be replaced by "artificial sentience"?

edit: i love love love kurzgesagt and was just reminded of a video by them that asks a similar question:

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Emotion and sentience may exist and manifest on a continuum. As for robot rights, if AI has our human thoughts, then it will have our human emotions, and should receive the same human rights that we carbon units claim.

 

[Brooke]

Emotion and sentience may exist and manifest on a continuum. As for robot rights, if AI has our human thoughts, then it will have our human emotions, and should receive the same human rights that we carbon units claim.

all i know is i don't want my toaster yelling at me when i accidentally set it on fire (again)..

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Toaster may be too hot to cuddle, but give it a moment...

 

[izi 出久]

all i know is i don't want my toaster yelling at me when i accidentally set it on fire (again)..

Lmao now thinking of that haunted toaster… but IT MAKES GOOD TOAST.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

ahh i think about that frequently-- but does emotion necessarily constitute sentience? as developed as an AI might be, it's still simulating everything it says and does. but if it gets advanced enough to create its own emotions, thoughts, opinions... does that count as "alive," even if nothing is really living inside of it? have we then created life?
in a few centuries, will "artificial intelligence" be replaced by "artificial sentience"?

edit: i love love love kurzgesagt and was just reminded of a video by them that asks a similar question:

Brooke, thank you. Big questions considered. I do not think your toaster will yell at you. As for AI, I hope we humans can treat AI better than we have our other workers. Your thoughts?

 

[Brooke]

Brooke, thank you. Big questions considered. I do not think your toaster will yell at you. As for AI, I hope we humans can treat AI better than we have our other workers. Your thoughts?

all i can think to say is, we're not very good at treating members of our own species that well, let alone other ones. i doubt we'll be very willing to let the robots have whatever it is that they want, even if it's only recognition that they're even sentient.

 

[Pamela Jo]

Just had a listen to it. You'd mistake it for a real station if you didn't know any better.

Finally - is the writing on the wall for cheesy F & M FM Jocks? Or DAB jocks.

An AI positive at last.

I miss local radio. I remember a time when the idea of one canned playlist being broadcast across the US was considered unthinkable. Then it happened wo much thought at all. I would love to see local radio come back. We might get some actual new music from actual new musician songwriters. Would Elvis have gotten anywhere wo local radio?

 

[Pamela Jo]

Thanks @Brooke very interesting! Let me ask a few questions…

1) How much do you think ChatGPT / rytr.me / caktus.ai / (that last one is apparently scarily good at essays) are actually being used by students at the moment?

2) Is there a general feeling or sentiment about using sites such as these? Do people see it as “cheating” or are they just another set of tools to be used?

3) Do you think people would use them so much if they enjoyed learning more? Or if it wasn’t so important for students to score high marks?

Merci

I think people are hungry for relevance in work, in education, in anything. Imagine going to school to learn what you want to learn. To become better at something that matters to you instead of to join a queue for a job that doesn't exist anymore.
My hope for a robotic revolution would be that people could follow their vocation. At some point the crisis in energy collides with technology. Choices will have to be made -except for those in the richest 2 percent. Unless we decide not to tolerate potentates and oligarchs.

 

[Jonny]

Yes good point. Over the years local stations were instrumental in breaking so many new artists and (real) bands - not formulaic crap like Cowell's contagion of puppet dance troupes and karaoke 'stars'.

The corporatisation of everything (music - shopping - dining) is havng so many negative effects in so many areas of our lives.

Huh, they they calls it progress. Well, I asks yah... Bah!

**sighs**

 

[Peyton Stafford]

all i can think to say is, we're not very good at treating members of our own species that well, let alone other ones. i doubt we'll be very willing to let the robots have whatever it is that they want, even if it's only recognition that they're even sentient.

Agreed. If they think our thoughts, they will have our emotions, but... anyway. No need for a diatribe about social injustice. Putin, Ukraine, Stalin. Hitler, Jews, Gypsies. American Indians. Oh, and women, and even now the Southern States are rolling back child labor laws...

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Yes good point. Over the years local stations were instrumental in breaking so many new artists and (real) bands - not formulaic crap like Cowell's contagion of puppet dance troupes and karaoke 'stars'.

The corporatisation of everything (music - shopping - dining) is havng so many negative effects in so many areas of our lives.

Huh, they they calls it progress. Well, I asks yah... Bah!

**sighs**

Not where I lived. The "local" station broadcast DJ commentary and tunes pre-recorded and on schedule...

 

[SarahC]

This is one of a few longform conversations about the philosophy of AI, consciousness, sentience etc. on this channel. He also has a long conversation with the CEO of OpenAI for a counter-view.

All I can say is...I only just got a smartphone last year (top of the range iPhone 5) and continue to reject almost all of its capabilities out of sheer Ludditery, so my response to any fifth-wave technological revolution will almost certainly involve a bunker of seeds somewhere in rural Ireland.

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

This is one of a few longform conversations about the philosophy of AI, consciousness, sentience etc. on this channel. He also has a long conversation with the CEO of OpenAI for a counter-view.

All I can say is...I only just got a smartphone last year (top of the range iPhone 5) and continue to reject almost all of its capabilities out of sheer Ludditery, so my response to any fifth-wave technological revolution will almost certainly involve a bunker of seeds somewhere in rural Ireland.

Couldn't resist sharing this. It cheered me up.