So, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writer’s Month) has come out with an… interesting stance on the use of AI in its yearly competition.
Many people are taking this as not just an endorsement of the use of AI in NaNoWriMo, but a passive aggressive attack on those who see its use as a threat to creativity.
Well, here’s what I think the real problem is regarding so-called Artificial Intelligence:
It’s a honey trap for starting writers to make them believe that they can do EVERYTHING themselves (with its help) in order to cut down on costs. Editing? AI. Cover art? AI. Marketing? AI.
Note I don’t say anything about the actual writing. That part of it will most likely fizzle out quick, revealed for the bland, lifeless dreck it is. At BEST it might be useful for sparking ideas, but you know what? You can do the same damn thing with a tarot deck, Mythulu cards, or random dice charts.
No, I think in the end the writing will still be writing (God I hope so), but then you have the temptation for all the other parts that go into writing—the “boring” parts, or parts you have to pay money for—to be handled automatically.
And there’s the trap, set and ready to spring.
A good editor does more than spot typos. Hell, most editors use spellcheckers too (they just don’t trust them). You talk to any writer who’s worked with a good editor, and they’ll tell you why they’re worth it. They don’t just fix mistakes; they make their stories clearer, more concise, more engaging. They help bring out the BEST you in your work.
An AI will try to make you sound like everyone else, or mimic someone specific.
Same goes for cover art. It’s more than just a pretty picture – the artist or designer has to know the marketplace. They don’t always create a cover based on its accuracy to your book… they create it based on what the kind of people who will like your book are looking for. There’s a whole unspoken language going on there, and because they’ve spent the time to learn and understand it (and YOU haven’t!) they’re way more qualified to judge what will work and what won’t.
An AI will give you what you want, and I guarantee you, it will be a mistake. Also, ugly.
AI will no doubt be quite useful in finding your target audience online for marketing purposes. But to actually engage with them? Connect? Keep them around? That’s still on you, baby.
A starting writer wants to believe the only part that matters is the writing. Everything else is either a time or a money sink.
And I get it. I so get it. You want that dopamine rush of a completed, wonderful story ready for people to read and enjoy. Or you’re strapped for cash and see all these things as barriers to you reaching your dreams.
That’s what makes NaNoWriMo’s decision such a disappointment… because it’s not aimed at people who already consider themselves writers, it’s aimed at encouraging people who want to become writers.
In other words, this trap has been set for the most vulnerable part of the community.
If you’re serious about writing, you have to accept that, on some level, it’s a collaborative experience. Those other people that get involved? Those extra revisions you have to do? They’re not optional, not unless you’re a true savant.
So, when considering the use of AI in your writing, I suggest you keep a few things in mind:
1) You can’t do it alone.
2) You get what you pay for.
3) Shortcuts usually aren’t.
Oh, and, of course, the power required to run all these AI facilities just so you can whip off a picture of a three-breasted Martian with your prompt are using so much energy they are actively harming the environment and pushing us to an energy crisis. Just sayin’.
Classist and ableist? Seriously?
Well, yes, an excellent cover artist and an excellent editor (or two) are expensive, but damn they are worth every penny.
I guess this confirms my instincts not to participate in NaNoWriMo. My writing and my life never seemed to fit into THAT particular 30 day box anyway!
I used AI to create a couple of blog posts and quickly realized that the tool I was using wasn’t really WRITING for me, it was just doing research. That I don’t mind. But the writing was… Well, just meh.
But classist and ableist? I don’t get it…
That’s exactly how I felt.
I’m sorry to take issue, especially as my point is oblique to your thread.
I write. I would normally not use AI to “assist” me, since I am not assured of its worth at its present state of development.
What I would need AI for is *art*. I cannot do representational art for toffee (or candy). I can fudge a logo or an abstract image, but for it to look like a real thing, I would need Ai intervention. I have been told, quite emphatically that, by doing so, I am depriving a proper artist of work. I cannot, however, afford a pro to do illos for me. The AI will do *something* for free. More if I don’t like what it produces, the AI, being a machine, will take no umbrage in having its offering cast aside and it being told “Do it over, but better this time”.
Your point on energy, I take, but note that whatever I do uses up energy. Even walking across a field crushes grass which a ruminant animal will be unable to use to convert to energy for itself. Even installing a solar panel costs energy setting it up and attaching it to a surface.
AI is here; like the atom bomb, surely a workable approach is to admit that, own up to having it, and control/moderate how it is utilised. NaNoWriMo have taken one approach; I know other media ban it. No-one, so far as I know, advocates for making it compulsory (unlike conscription, trade union membership, and euthanasia, which all, I know, have pressure groups advocating their application), so shall we not just let the water level settle in the swamp, and then decide what to do about the alligators ??
I understand what you’re saying. As I said above, being a writer can be expensive and time consuming, and it’s so tempting to look for shortcuts.
But here’s the thing. In your example above, you’re dismissing the role of the illustrator as unnecessary to the process. If your work REQUIRES illustration, then you are not talking about a solo project, but a collaboration. You and the artist.
Some would-be writers go to established writers with a “million dollar idea,” asking if they want to collaborate on it as co-authors. But all that person actually brings to the table is the idea. And they want to think that makes them equal in terms of the effort involved. “I give you the million dollar idea, and all you have to do is write it!”
Yeah, I can buy million dollar ideas 2-for-1 at the dollar store, thanks. This is what ghost writers are for. They take your idea and do all the hard work for making it into a proper story, using their tens of thousands of hours of experience to make it a proper saleable book, and then you can do what you like with it.
And you know what? They get paid.
Why should illustration be any different?
This is the honey trap I am warning about. People have “million dollar ideas” all the time, and someone comes along with a quick and easy way to make that happen. Bing, bang, boom, you’re the next Stephen King, with a fancy cover and everything! And that trap is all the more tempting when you’re convinced that you’ve already done all the hard work.
It’s a Faustian bargain.
If the work you’re talking about doing is intended to be a saleable product and not just for yourself, look for an artist who shares your vision and is willing to collaborate. They might work for a percentage of the profits. Depending on your needs, you could subscribe to a royalty free stock image site. There are options.
You say you take my point on energy… but I would ask that you read the article I linked to. Then read other articles on the subject. Find out how much energy goes into producing a SINGLE image (about as much energy as fully charging your smartphone: https://www.theverge.com/24066646/ai-electricity-energy-watts-generative-consumption).
Saying that everything uses energy is a dismissive approach, especially when you ignore things like grass growing back or the point where that solar panel starts producing more energy than it took to make/install it.
Unfortunately, that’s human nature. If we really want something, we’ll bend over backwards to justify it, so we can do what we want and sleep well at night doing it. We don’t want to have to face the possibility that we’re making bad decisions, because going about it another way is hard.
Just something to consider.
“… it might be useful for sparking ideas, but you know what? You can do the same damn thing with a tarot deck, Mythulu cards, or random dice charts.”
LOL, ah, you have discovered my secret. Okay, it’s not much of a secret that I am a solo RPG player and I like to journal my character’s adventures. 🙂