Conventional AI vs. Generative AI

There are two relevant types of AI for an author/artist. One is often called traditional/conventional AI. Many programs use this type of AI to identify things like spelling errors, misplaced punctuation, and grammar issues. These programs use predetermined algorithms and rules to analyze against your writing. For example, they contain dictionaries and then compared your words to the spelling in this dictionary. Spell and grammar checks in common programs like Microsoft Word use this type of AI.

I am an advocate for people using these types of tools. They have been around for many years and can be very helpful. We all make typos! But also know they are not always correct. Check out my Software vs. Human Editor blog post for more information.

The second type of AI is called generative AI. This is the one causing so much controversy because many of these programs were created being trained on writing and art without the consent of the author/artist. This is a fact. CEOs and engineers have stated this openly. These programs absorb inputted information and regurgitate it later. This is why plagiarism is such a concern when using it and why, at least in the US, gen AI-created projects cannot currently be copyrighted. It continues to absorb more information as users’ input prompts, pieces of their writing, and more content is generated.

Writing is a skill. It takes more than just imagination to come up with a good story. Writers need to learn how to write. They need to understand things like what head-hopping is and what point-of-view is and how to flesh out a character to make them well-rounded and not a flat caricature. Using generative AI not only relies on someone else’s previous work, it removes the creative elements and the earned skill. If AI is generating content for you, even with your own prompts, even with your editing, you are not writing it.

There are a host of issues with AI-generated content. Many editors (including myself) will not work on such content because it often requires so much clean up, the project reaches the level of ghost writing. There is often repetition and plot holes. There is no true author voice. The words lack the human element that draws people in and allows them to connect with the characters and story on a deep level. Don’t sell yourself short by trying to cut corners and pushing out mediocre stories.

In line with this, I also do not support the use of generative AI for book covers, marketing content, or audiobooks. Now, I know all of this can be very expensive for indie authors. Believe me, I know. But if you’re willing to rely on gen AI because it’s cheap, how is that different from people using gen AI to create books?

However. Oh yes, few things are black/white! However, while using gen AI to create your content or even "fix" it can be problematic, there are things generative AI is good for. I read something from a doctor who said their hospital had a new piece of equipment with gen AI that was able to catch bone weakness and micro-fracturing far earlier than they had been able to find it without this equipment. That is a great use! It was a specialized form of gen AI used to help people. It was not a generalist trained on stolen content to replace the creativity or skill of humans.

Some writers say gen AI is fine for things like brainstorming, worldbuilding, editing, or analyzing (or yes, art again). I disagree. Again, the form of generative AI the public has access to is built on stolen material. There is also the environmental component (one I think is equally important) I'll mention a little about below. I think part of the issue with this mentality is people think writing is a sole activity. I'm going to write about that as well.

One last thing I do want to point out is the environmental toll of generative AI. The data centers that run these programs use a lot of electricity and water. A LOT. There have been many news articles on this if you want a deeper dive, but the resources used are probably much more than you think. We all use enough as it is, so maybe consider how much you need to use that gen AI or if some humans could lend a hand.

I don't recommend using generative AI for writing or art. It has its uses, though I can't think of any at the general public level at the moment, but let’s keep the humans in art. We’re the ones art is supposed to be for, after all.