AI & Writing

[pacman000]

Not sure about where to put this, but I think it could generate discussion, so here it goes:

For the past few months, maybe a year or so, there's been a lot of hand-wringing online about AI generated stories & the like. But such programs aren't exactly new. Here's a brief history of them, from a a bit over 10 years ago. You can look up each program & its creator to get more info; just copy & past their names into a search engine. Story Generator Algorithms - the living handbook of narratology

The main problem with the new systems is how they were made. The old systems relied on formulas developed by programmers; the new on formulas created by copying millions upon millions of different works, some of which are still-under copyright.

The US never anticipated this, so it's the Wild West right now. Great Britain did, & made laws back in the 80's that cover AI. Putting 1000's of works in a database isn't illegal, but it can't be used for profit, under British law. I tried Google Gemini, just to see what it could do. It can recall the exact text of a book, if you ask it, so it would count as a database under the same law. (My understanding; I'm neither British nor a lawyer.)

I don't recommend using such a system; it's addictive, & it tends to sap one's own creativity. Unless you want to develop your own AI, based on a ruleset developed by you, not on millions of copied still-copyrighted works. After all, technology's fun.

 

[pacman000]

And… I’ve got to admit I went back to Google Gemini after writing yesterday's post. :/ Having something write a story almost exactly to your tastes within seconds is addicting. Sorry for my failure & potential hypocrisy.

It is cool technology, tho I fear it. It’s too fast. It can write better prose than I can. It can take a rough rambling paragraph outlining what happens next & spit out a complete chapter.

One consolation: it forgets. And it relies on clichés. I have to keep reminding it the direction a story should go, character motivations, the world’s rules, etc. If I don’t, it slips back to its default, trite ideas. But sometimes the ideas it comes up with are interesting too; things I wouldn’t think of myself, which are interesting to build upon. I'll probably go back there again today, just to see what it'll come up with.
I need to start writing again, in earnest. By myself.

Before I go, I'd like to bring up one or two more old AI-writing related papers: "Atari's Interactive Fantasy Project" (Wayback Machine) and "Toward the Design of a Computer-Based Interactive Fantasy System" (Toward the Design of a Computer-Based Interactive Fantasy System — Brenda Laurel dissertation : Brenda Laurel : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive).

Atari was working on a system in the early 80's which was supposed to create interactive stories on the fly. They thought they'd have something ready by the 90's, but then they lost $500 million in one year, & Warner Communications really wanted to get that off their books, so they sold them, &, as far as I know, none of their new owners wanted to continue the research. That doesn't mean the research stopped, however. The second paper is about further research, by one of Atari's employees after leaving the company.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Honestly, I'm just not interested in doing AI-generated content, full stop.

 

[Xerroo]

Same here. I prefer to write what is on my mind than use AI. I might use AI to create art to get inspiration for ideas, but that is it. Everything I write is by hand.

 

[pacman000]

I started to use it just to see what it could do. It's impressive at first, but most stories follow the same formula, unless you ask it "What happens next?" Or unless you give it specific plot points you'd like to see. That's where it becomes addicting; it can create a series of stories just for you. To your tastes. It's billed as a writing tool, but I'm afraid it's more of an entertainment source by itself.

Even looking it as a tool, it's a powerful. It won't replace all writers, but will replace most writers if all the legal issues are worked out. Imagine a world where a show runner can type in an episode plot they desire, & have a computer fill it out for them. Their writing staff will be reduced from maybe a dozen people, to one: the show runner themselves.

(I must point out that a show runner could write most episodes by themselves, if they wanted to. Rod Serling did for the Twilight Zone; and a lot of old radio sitcoms were written by about two people. Shoot, I wrote a series myself a couple of years ago. Never did anything with it.)

I want to write something myself again, but I also want to be entertained, so for the past few weeks I've wound up giving a lot of my ideas to a stupid, stupid computer program to see what it'll come up with. :/ I'm disgusted with myself. I'm impressed by the technology, but I'm disgusted with myself.

 

[Fone Bone]

I started to use it just to see what it could do. It's impressive at first, but most stories follow the same formula, unless you ask it "What happens next?" Or unless you give it specific plot points you'd like to see. That's where it becomes addicting; it can create a series of stories just for you. To your tastes. It's billed as a writing tool, but I'm afraid it's more of an entertainment source by itself.

Even looking it as a tool, it's a powerful. It won't replace all writers, but will replace most writers if all the legal issues are worked out. Imagine a world where a show runner can type in an episode plot they desire, & have a computer fill it out for them. Their writing staff will be reduced from maybe a dozen people, to one: the show runner themselves.

(I must point out that a show runner could write most episodes by themselves, if they wanted to. Rod Serling did for the Twilight Zone; and a lot of old radio sitcoms were written by about two people. Shoot, I wrote a series myself a couple of years ago. Never did anything with it.)

I want to write something myself again, but I also want to be entertained, so for the past few weeks I've wound up giving a lot of my ideas to a stupid, stupid computer program to see what it'll come up with. :/ I'm disgusted with myself. I'm impressed by the technology, but I'm disgusted with myself.

What you are describing sounds like creative hell. I sure as hell hope that never comes to pass.