It’s the question so many authors are struggling with—and by authors, I mean people who come up with an idea for a novel, write it without assistance except from other human beings, and then publish.
There is Artificial Intelligence EVERWHERE.
You’ve heard the phrase the good, the bad, and the ugly? Well, here is the ugly, the bad, and the good of authors using AI.
THE UGLY
Let’s start off with the worst, shall we?
The first and most obvious horrendous way AI is being used is by unscrupulous people who are using AI to “write” entire novels for them. Even worse, they can ask the computer to write in the style of a particular author and it will create something that might be passable to someone who doesn’t read too closely. They then sell these books (sometimes filled with complete gobbledygook) to unsuspecting readers on Amazon and other online retailers.
Some authors are also replacing hard working, talented artists, cover designers, and voice actors with AI created book covers and audio books. This is taking work away from people who not only need it, but who have honed their skills over years, if not decades. These are creative people who don’t deserve such treatment.
THE BAD
Not quite as horrible as “the ugly”, but still ungood are other ways of using AI. For example, an author can write a general descript of a novel and then have a computer create a detailed outline. All you need to do is tell it what genre and what story structure to use.
Where is the creativity, the individuality of such a novel? It’s not as bad as those books entirely written by a computer, but it’s definitely a step in that direction.
Another slightly disturbing (but potentially useful) thing AI can do now is take complex articles filled with jargon and complicated mathematical formulae—or just your average blog post—and turn it into a “podcast”. In this audio file, two “people” discuss the article, breaking it down for listeners who don’t have the knowledge or inclination to actually read the article on their own.
And finally, there is the environmental impact of using all that computing power. Enough energy to power an entire town is being used to keep AI computers working. It’s a waste of precious resources. (Perhaps I should have put this in ugly? It was a toss-up.)
THE GOOD
After all this, you must be wondering if there could possibly be any good uses for AI. Well, happily, there are.
Many authors may be using AI without even knowing it when they run their book through a grammar checker. Grammarly and ProWritingAid, the two most popular grammar-checking apps both use AI to check your work. As one for whom grammar is not a strong point, I appreciate this.
AI image creators can also be useful in creating images for blog posts. These are not something I’m going to make any money on, but it’s always nice to have a computer create appropriate images for me—and saves me lots of image manipulation.
I am almost embarrassed to admit it, but I use AI to write the first draft of my book description. It still needs a good amount of work, but it gives me a place to start.
And finally, some AI computers are good for research—but you still need to check the references and be sure that the computer analyzed and summarized the information correctly (and you don’t accidentally put into your book that it’s an accepted thing to use glue to keep cheese on a pizza).
So, how do you use AI in your writing—or don’t you?