I could have written this article with AI or had AI write it for me. The question is, is that right? Ethical? How much AI should an author use?
To answer this question, I did some research into AI writing tools. Let me tell you, there are a lot! A lot more than I anticipated. And what’s interesting is that each one specializes in some different aspect of writing. There are some that help you write articles or blog posts (I fooled around with those before I started writing this on my own). There are some that focus on marketing, copy writing, and writing for social media. And, of course, there are some that are actually meant for writers of fiction.
I’m sure that everyone is aware that apps such as Grammarly and ProWritingAid are now completely run by AI. These programs, which used to be iffy at checking to see whether your punctuation was correct and if your commas were where they should be, are now offering to rewrite your words for you.
And it is not only grammar checkers that have become AI-ed, but now all writing programs are trying to use a computer to help (or sometimes “help”) writers. Even my favorite app, Plottr now has an AI—separate from the actual program—that (for a significant amount of money) will analyze your book for you and tell you where it needs improving.
That sounds really helpful, right? Well… not really because it doesn’t take into consideration your genre and the conventions of it. It just gives you a general analysis—it’s a very detailed analysis, but not necessarily relevant to the specific book.
So, when could you use AI?
Obviously, not for the actual writing of your novel. That, I should hope, everyone agrees would be wrong.
However, if you’re struggling to come up with a list of possible plot points that might happen in your story, AI would probably be able to help with that. You can accept any of the proposed plot point or, even better, use them as a jumping off point for you to come up with your own.
If you need a word that’s on the tip of your tongue and your brain just can’t come up with it—describing what you’re looking for will probably get that word. (I used it above when I couldn’t come up with the word “conventions”.)
AI can also help with research and world building. It can show you pictures of a knight’s armor so you can then describe it in your book, or suggest what shops there might be on the main street of your little fictional town. The only problem is that it is then up to you to ensure that the answers it gives you are correct. If you use a website like Perplexity it will give you references and links to where it found the information it feeds you. You should definitely look at those reference because it might be taking information out of context and twisting it into something not intended by the author.
AI can also help come up with character names and there is one website (Character.ai) where you can input your character and then have a discussion with them.
And finally, one way in which I’ve used AI is to help me write book descriptions. AI is very good at summarizing long texts and ChatGPT, specifically, can write a book description if you ask it to write something similar to the ones in your genre that can be found on Amazon. I do not simply take what the computer gives me and upload it, I will take what it writes, perhaps stealing a word or phrase here and there, and use it to help me get started on writing my own description.
So, now what do you think? Is using AI as a tool for writing fiction good or bad?
I think it can be both. AI has its place and considering its prevalence in the world now, I don’t think it can be completely dismissed. As long as it’s not misused or relied upon every step of the way throughout the book you’re writing, it can be helpful. It is when people begin to use it to actually do the writing for them that there is trouble.