And this is not a particularly difficult song, I don’t think. And really, has the AI even gotten at the song’s “meaning,” or has it just paraphrased what’s there in the lyrics and maybe pulled in a phrase or two from Wikipedia? And note how there’s no mention of the song’s music, the singer’s voice, how it changes in intensity as it suddenly shifts up in pitch. Surely the music and sound of a song is important to its “meaning.”
So these are some of the telltale signs of AI writing and maybe things to look for and excise from our own writing: (1) It’s Captain Obvious stuff. (2) Sometimes it reads like it’s by someone for whom English is not their first language. (3) It’s cold and emotionless. (4) There’s absolutely nothing personal in it. (5) It proceeds in a linear fashion from beginning to end. (6) It may often be factually incorrect. (7) It tells you everything and nothing.
Here’s the song, in case you now want to listen to it:
The nice thing about a small number of rules is that we can actually keep them in mind when reviewing our writing (something hard to do with entire books on the subject).
There's the question about "publishing" echoing through this--unless you choose to put an end to that. If you have no interest in publishing, and are writing for yourself, and/or family and close friends, then you can go with your gut. (If writing for family, for instance, you might want their opinions on how memories have happened.)
If writing for publication--traditional publication--then the whole takes another turn; at that point, yes you do have to think in terms of comparison, and tools of this work, and how your tools are working: is a blade sharp enough (not so sharp you're going to cut yourself!); do you have the right screwdriver for the task? (a comma or a semi-colon?); is your hammer too big for that fine nail going into a plaster wall?
Whew... lots to think about. I could go on for hours about this! Self-respect, self-care--always key.
Love this share. I've always believed that each of us has a unique story to bring to this world through words or art or just pure living and nobody else can compete with that because it's not a competition so what you've said about not competing with AI makes a lot of sense to me.
I also honestly try not to judge my own writing as positive or negative, good or bad. Sometimes, of course, I re-read a piece and think, "wow, I wrote that?" (which may then come along with either positive or negative feelings in my body). But either way, I hold it lightly and let it go. Because not getting too wrapped up in it is the only way I know to keep moving with my writing, so I see it as creating a big body of work across a lifetime, a body of work unique to me, and some will be good and some will be bad and most will be in between but the big body of work will be something special all its own.
Great perspective, Cali. It's a weird alchemical process, combining the elements you name, I think, and somehow a degree of certainty arises over time.
Thanks for opening this up, Cali. There's a lot of food for thought here. Great comments and ideas with pointers to move forward. With love, xxx
It might be easier to say what’s bad writing than what’s good. And AI in its current state supplies good examples of bad writing.
For example, take a look at this AI-generated piece on the “meaning” of a song:
https://www.songtell.com/neil-young/old-man
And this is not a particularly difficult song, I don’t think. And really, has the AI even gotten at the song’s “meaning,” or has it just paraphrased what’s there in the lyrics and maybe pulled in a phrase or two from Wikipedia? And note how there’s no mention of the song’s music, the singer’s voice, how it changes in intensity as it suddenly shifts up in pitch. Surely the music and sound of a song is important to its “meaning.”
So these are some of the telltale signs of AI writing and maybe things to look for and excise from our own writing: (1) It’s Captain Obvious stuff. (2) Sometimes it reads like it’s by someone for whom English is not their first language. (3) It’s cold and emotionless. (4) There’s absolutely nothing personal in it. (5) It proceeds in a linear fashion from beginning to end. (6) It may often be factually incorrect. (7) It tells you everything and nothing.
Here’s the song, in case you now want to listen to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An2a1_Do_fc
A fun little article from a few years ago covers Orwell’s famous 6 rules for writing and how he didn’t even always follow them himself:
https://www.economist.com/prospero/2013/07/29/johnson-those-six-little-rules
The nice thing about a small number of rules is that we can actually keep them in mind when reviewing our writing (something hard to do with entire books on the subject).
I don't know about the writing being good, but I do have a sense that what I wrote is what I wanted to say - or conversely that the post needs work.
There's the question about "publishing" echoing through this--unless you choose to put an end to that. If you have no interest in publishing, and are writing for yourself, and/or family and close friends, then you can go with your gut. (If writing for family, for instance, you might want their opinions on how memories have happened.)
If writing for publication--traditional publication--then the whole takes another turn; at that point, yes you do have to think in terms of comparison, and tools of this work, and how your tools are working: is a blade sharp enough (not so sharp you're going to cut yourself!); do you have the right screwdriver for the task? (a comma or a semi-colon?); is your hammer too big for that fine nail going into a plaster wall?
Whew... lots to think about. I could go on for hours about this! Self-respect, self-care--always key.
Love this share. I've always believed that each of us has a unique story to bring to this world through words or art or just pure living and nobody else can compete with that because it's not a competition so what you've said about not competing with AI makes a lot of sense to me.
I also honestly try not to judge my own writing as positive or negative, good or bad. Sometimes, of course, I re-read a piece and think, "wow, I wrote that?" (which may then come along with either positive or negative feelings in my body). But either way, I hold it lightly and let it go. Because not getting too wrapped up in it is the only way I know to keep moving with my writing, so I see it as creating a big body of work across a lifetime, a body of work unique to me, and some will be good and some will be bad and most will be in between but the big body of work will be something special all its own.
Important, timely topic, and thoughtful weighing of what AI can and cannot do. Thanks, Cali!
Great perspective, Cali. It's a weird alchemical process, combining the elements you name, I think, and somehow a degree of certainty arises over time.
Very informative! Now, i’ve got to get the “share” thing working. This is too good to keep to myself.