Hello fellow writers! Are you tired of spending hours staring at a blank screen, struggling to come up with the perfect word or phrase? Well, have you considered using artificial intelligence to support your writing?
Now, before you roll your eyes and tell me that you’re a “real” writer and AI has no place in your craft, hear me out. AI may not be able to write best-selling literature on its own (yet), but it can definitely be a useful tool to help you brainstorm ideas, improve your writing, and even save time on menial tasks.
As a professional writer and high school English teacher, here’s my take:
I’m not going to lie—as a late millennial/early gen Z-er and writer and visual artist—I have had conflicting opinions about the role of AI in the creative space. At the ripe age of 25, technology has played a role in my writing in a basic sense (ease of internet research, spelling and grammar checks, citation creators, etc), but artificial intelligence is a whole new world to me.
I have grappled with the morality of “original writing and creativity” versus the boom in human creative potential thanks to the assistance of AI.
Keyword: assistance.
So, I know what you might be thinking: “But isn’t using AI cheating? Won’t it make my writing less authentic?” I definitely did. And among my research and playing around with ChatGPT-3, I’ve found that the answer isn’t so cut and dry.
AI should be used as a tool—it’s up to you how you use it. It’s not going to write your entire novel for you (again, not yet). And as for authenticity, I would argue that using AI to help with tasks like editing and research can actually make your writing stronger. By catching mistakes and providing you with accurate information, AI can help you focus on what really matters: crafting a compelling story or message.
What AI can’t do is reflect your voice or tell your personal story. It is not a mind reader, does not have the ability to produce original thoughts, cannot always tell the difference between fact and fiction, and cannot process emotions.
The purpose of literature is to reflect the human condition—as it has for centuries to tell the stories of time. What compels people to read blogs, novels, articles, poems, etc, is the innate yearning to relate to or learn from others’ experiences. Only a human can capture their essence through raw human thought, experience, and emotion. So don’t worry—this is something a computer can never replace (I hope).
On the other hand, typing in a prompt or telling AI to spit out a writing piece for you and slapping your name on it.. that’s another story and quite a risky move. AI collects information from what exists on the internet and spits it back out into a writing piece. This can get very risky without human fact-checking, editing, and plagiarism detection. And again, writer’s have a distinct voice. Without adding your own flare to it, purely AI-generated writing sounds, well—robotic. And we all know that “robotic” doesn’t sell.
And for students: before you think about submitting a totally AI-generated essay, yes—your teachers can tell. And although it may sound cliché, choosing not to create your own original writing will only hurt your ability to think and communicate well in the long run.
Teacher rant over.
Anyway—yes, it is a scary thought that AI can (and most likely will) completely change the role of the writer and change how humans are taught to be literate in the future. However, as I continue my professional freelance writing journey and face the reality of how I approach writing as a high school English teacher, I have no choice but to maximize my knowledge and skills with AI. And I highly suggest all writers and educators do the same to get ahead of the game.
So, how can you use AI to support your writing? Here are a few ideas:
Brainstorming:
One of the hardest parts of writing can be coming up with ideas in the first place. AI can help with this by generating ideas based on a prompt or theme you give it. For example, you can use AI writing assistance tools like Articoolo or Wordsmith to get ideas for blog posts, articles, or even character names.
Editing:
No one is perfect, and even the most seasoned writers make mistakes. That’s where AI editing tools come in. These tools can help you catch grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and even suggest rewrites for awkward or clunky sentences. Some popular AI editing tools include Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and Hemingway Editor.
Research:
Research can be a time-consuming task, especially if you’re writing about a subject that you’re not familiar with. AI can help with this by quickly finding and summarizing relevant information for you. For example, you can use AI tools like OpenAI’s GPT-3 to generate a summary of a long article or a list of key points on a particular topic.
Organizing:
If you’re working on a longer writing project, it can be helpful to have a system in place to keep track of your ideas and research. AI can help with this by generating outlines and mind maps for you. For example, you can use AI tools like Idea Flux or XMind to visualize your ideas and see how they fit together.
Transcribing:
If you’re someone who prefers to dictate your writing or if you have a lot of audio or video content that you want to turn into written text, AI can be a huge help. There are a number of AI transcription tools available, such as Otter.ai and Temi, that can transcribe your audio or video files into written text quickly and accurately.
So, there you have it.
Just a few ways that AI can support your writing—not replace it. Don’t be afraid to give AI a try! It may just surprise you with how much it can help you improve your writing and find your voice. Happy writing!
PS- this blog post is my first AI-assisted blog post! I used the “brainstorming” feature to help me outline my ideas. It cut my writing time in half and inspired my writing flow!
How did I do it? Check back for a how-to guide on AI-assisted writing and check out our Instagram @thewriterscatalog for a mini video tutorial coming soon.
