Can Artificial Intelligence Write?

In this post, we look at Artificial Intelligence and how it affects writing.

Can Artificial Intelligence Write?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is common in science-fiction, but also in the real world. Writing services that use AI are everywhere.

Here’s how AI is learning to write, and why modern writers don’t have a problem yet.

What AI Means

Chatbots can hold conversation, but AI can do more.

Computers can learn to play games like chess, poker, or Go. AI can also create art, paintings, and writing. Search engine bots are also artificially smart, as well as Amazon’s inventory system.

Photo identification and facial tracking also uses AI.

Computers use ‘machine learning’ to learn, and ‘neural networks’ to think.

A computer learns with vast amounts of data, over and over. Data makes it smarter, and smarter.

Bots That Talk

ELIZA, made in the 1960s, was one of the first computers that could talk. Designed as therapy, it was a successful MIT project, but had flaws.

Today’s chatbots are smarter. Modern ones don’t run out of answers (or misunderstand) as often.

Chatbot Microsoft Tay was fed online comments for learning. In less than 24 hours, Tay had to be taken offline, because it was being too offensive.

Chatbots talk, but chatbots also ‘search’ for answers. A chatbot must, at very least, have an understanding of grammar rules. How else would it talk?

Confusing Bots

Chatbots introduce an AI to language, grammar, and context.

All these elements are used in writing. Computers are learning how to form sentences, and put together concepts or plots.

Robots can look scarier, especially for employed writers. That’s not necessary. There’s no need to freak out, and we’re not in a William Gibson (or H.G. Wells) story.

Artificial Intelligence is easy to confuse.

Ask something ironic, make a joke, or mention something that isn’t recorded in the neural network. The AI doesn’t understand, or will change the subject.

AI isn’t perfect. It needs humans to program it, teach it, and activate it. 

AI Writing

Artificial intelligence can make art, and write. But being original and understanding context is harder. Computers can only use what they’re given (and interpret from what they have).

Keaton Patti made an AI watch more than more than 400, 000 hours of horror. The AI wrote its own horror tale. The result was funny, instead of scary.

Other AI writing projects do better, and use humans to continue AI prompts. MIT’s Nightmare Machine creates horror images, but be warned, it’s scarier than the Netflix bot.

Repeat: AI isn’t perfect.

Humans aren’t perfect, either, but they can fix these mistakes when writing. An AI doesn’t understand why they are mistakes yet. 

A Look at AI Writing Services

AI-based copywriting services exist.

That’s the reality, and the truth is that some companies use them.

The ‘big sell’ is cheaper rates, or bulk content that can be generated in minutes. Administrators can set up entire websites without much work.

Usually, this content is keyword-based, and dirt cheap.

Why isn’t everyone doing it?

There are drawbacks, and AI copywriting could backfire on websites using it.

Why Humans Will Always Write

There are reasons why human writers can still outperform computers, and write better. 

1. Artificial intelligence needs proofreading.

Have you ever seen a ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ message that made no sense? Chances are that it was AI-generated. Scammers can use it too. Artificial Intelligence writing needs human proofreading, or it really sucks.

2. One AI can spot another.

Sites written by artificial intelligence rank lower than reputable, human-written websites. Humans can’t tell the difference, but computers run algorithms and spot AI writing easier. 

3. AI relies on people.

An AI learns from input, which can be set to automatic. Humans still programmed it, and humans still decide when it’s online (or isn’t). The more modern writers know about AI, the better. 

4.Some AI companies… Aren’t AI. 

If you’ve hired an AI company, and the results seem just too good to be a computer… It could be your answer. Content mills create writing that looks like AI (but it’s just humans getting paid less).

The Last Word

In this post, we examined why AI writing is no danger to human writers. We hope this post inspires you to keep writing.

By Alex J. Coyne. Alex is a writer, proofreader, and regular card player. His features about cards, bridge, and card playing have appeared in Great Bridge Links, Gifts for Card Players, Bridge Canada Magazine, and Caribbean Compass. Get in touch at alexcoyneofficial.com.

If you enjoyed this, read other posts by Alex:

1. 5 Bits Of Writing Advice From Patricia Highsmith
2. About Beat Poetry
3. 6 Bits Of Writing Advice From Wilbur Smith
4. 5 Writing Skills You Can Improve With Dungeons & Dragons
5. Copyright & Song Lyric Use For Writers
6. Urban Legends For Writers
7. 8 Common Phrases We Actually Got From Shakespeare
8. Here Be Dragons – In Fiction
9. Bad Business: 9 Words & Phrases To Avoid
10. Dissecting Zombies in Fiction Writing

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