As I began writing this article in Notion, a prompt jumped up on the screen suggesting that I use Notion's AI to do it:
Let AI Write "Three Ways Writers Can Utilize AI..."
This moment is aptly epitomized by my current digital life. To use AI or not to use AI? This is a choice that every contemporary writer has to face - AI is always tantalizingly in front of us whenever and wherever we are.
It came as suddenly as all digital advances: one day we're still laboring to code in Word, and in an instant, a paper clip with eyes is prompting us. In ChatGPT terms, I'm still staring at a blank wall, conceptualizing names for a witch who can peer into other people's memories, and in no time at all, I'm able to quickly come up with ten great names.
I did create the witch's name via ChatGPT, and it was surprisingly good, so good that I can't help but resent it - how did I not come up with that name?
Maybe if I had more time, I could think of something. But it's more important to tell the story and let it continue to unfold naturally, rather than inserting a note with "witch's name" in the middle of the text. The name allows the reader to become more immersed in the story. Names represent identities; my name is Shavonne, but imagine what "Shiv" conveys, think Shiv Roy in Inheritance.
A few months after ChatGPT was released, I used it not only to conceptualize names. It helped me describe characters and locations, and come up with backstories. It helped me get out of a creative rut when I didn't want to go do the dishes or go for a walk expecting to unravel a plot rut.
AI in its developmental stages is like a top of the line camera. The more buttons and shooting techniques I know, the better the pictures come out. But in the end, it's just a camera. I'm going to state my opinion here re: ChatGPT and all things like it:
AI is extremely valuable as a tool but cannot replace creative human thinking.
First I'll talk about the advantages of AI as a tool. After that I'll also elaborate on why it can't replace us humans, at least for now and perhaps never.
Three ways artificial intelligence can help writers
1. Research
If you wanted to set your novel in Iceland before ChatGPT came out, you might need to ask questions about Iceland through Google searches, such as "What is the Ring Road?" Or "How many inhabitants are there in Reykjavik?" You will be presented with a series of websites to search, each with its own purpose - perhaps the official tourism website for Iceland or Wikipedia. The key thing here is the _parsing_ work; you need to put more effort and thought into extracting the needed information from the websites.
With ChatGPT, you might start a conversation with "I'm writing an urban fantasy novel set in Iceland". Now it answers the question with context, so every piece of information you get from the AI will be filtered based on that context. When you ask ChatGPT "What's a traffic circle?" you'll get a Wikipedia-like answer. But when you ask, "If my heroine wants to keep a low profile, what town along the Beltway would be a good place for her to stop?" Then you're now in the zone, so to speak. To answer that question, you'll probably need to do multiple Google searches and could be drawn into a half-hour-long endless quest.
ChatGPT can give you the answer in seconds. In fact, I asked it about this regarding my novel in progress. Here's the answer I received for the main character, Eva:
If Eva wants to keep a low profile as she travels around Iceland on the Ring Road, she can choose to stop in the small town of Seydisfjordur, a pleasant town in eastern Iceland known for its magnificent fjords, charming colorful houses and calm atmosphere.
Seydisfjordur offers a calm and secluded environment, perfect for Eva to stop off and remain anonymous during her travels. As the town is not as frequented by tourists as the rest of the ring road, this means she is less likely to be noticed or mobbed.
At Seydisfjordur, Eva can enjoy the quiet surroundings, stroll through the stylized streets and revel in the beauty of the surrounding nature. It was the perfect place for her to re-energize, think deeply and organize her next trip around the island.
The above answer was generated in real time (which was a real eye-opener). If I were to do the search myself, it would probably take a lot of time and thought to identify Seydisfjordur, and I might not even find it at all.
Here's the real power of this research tool: it can provide you with inspiration based on your context at an alarming rate. As much as I like to explore in depth, I'm more interested in other aspects of writing.
But beware: AI can sometimes suffer from a phenomenon called "hallucinations"; it will provide answers with great confidence and clarity, but sometimes it will hallucinate. The "facts" presented to you may not be true; it may even make up links to websites. You can't predict when it will hallucinate, so I will fact-check everything it tells me. (The good news: Seydisfjordur is indeed a small but beautiful town located near a traffic circle.)
2. Conceptualizing the outline
I'm an uninhibited writer. It's probably an innate trait, and for those of us who love to improvise while having to deal with deadlines, luckily there's AI to help us refine our outlines. If I'm clear on the conception of a story and provide ChatGPT with that context, requesting a ten-point outline of a story, it outlines it for me as it should.
That's what happened when I did this for my urban fantasy story featuring Eva the Fae. The general plot of the story is that Eva, as a covert agent of the underground organization The Whispering Bureau, is in charge of hunting down vampires. But in the midst of her investigation, she begins to question the veracity of the Bureau's claims about her past, a question that seems to bring the walls around her closer. And here's my request: for a 60,000 word urban fantasy novel, please outline its ten points.
It really gave me what I was hoping for. Here's a synopsis of its first three points:
Book title: whispers in the night
60,000 word outline for an urban fantasy novel:
1. Getting to know Eva and the Whispering Bureau
- Depicts Eva, who is known as a secret agent who specializes in hunting vampires.
- Introducing The Whispering Bureau, an underground agency specializing in the supernatural.
2. Eva's initial suspicions
- Eva successfully hunts a vampire, but in the process accidentally discovers disturbing clues about her past.
- She questioned her superiors, but received ambiguous and evasive answers, which deepened her doubts.
3. Exposing the truth
- Eva continues to dig deeper and discovers hidden files and suppressed information about her childhood.
- A former agent estranged from the Bureau warns her that the quest for the truth is fraught with danger.
This outline is as bland as a loaf of convenience bread in a loaf of bread. But as I read the entire outline point by point, I was able to recognize how the AI constructed it in a way that roughly followed the structure of a three-act play. It reminded me of the photography analogy I mentioned earlier: it's as if a beginner would simply take a picture without knowing how to adjust focus, depth of field, or framing.
Similarly, for such an outline, if I put more in-depth detail into the request, I might get a more refined result. For example, if I give the AI more detailed information about my protagonist, villain, and plot points I already have in mind, I get a more fleshed out outline. (I've actually tried and proven this to work.)
The most valuable applications of AI here areInspirationWhen ChatGPT suggested that "a former agent estranged from the Whispering Bureau warned her of the dangers of pursuing the truth," I immediately came up with a number of ways to flesh it out. When ChatGPT came up with the idea of "a former agent, estranged from The Whispering Bureau, warns her of the dangers of pursuing the truth," I immediately came up with a number of ideas for fleshing it out. The breadth of the idea didn't diminish its utility - it provided me with a starting point for creating a story, rather than an empty struggle in my head.
3. Finding a breakthrough
In that sense, AI is very good at cooperating with you countless times to tell your story and never get bored. Before this, I always relied on my partner as my confidant. Even now it's the same - but I know his patience is always limited. He's very supportive, but he has a life and needs of his own.
For a writer, AI is that ideal longtime companion. It's always ready to listen to the story you want to tell, and always gives positive feedback, no matter what time of day or night. Even though those suggestions may be common, they have the potential to spark new ideas.
Just a month ago, as I was working on the lengthy middle section of my urban fantasy novel, I realized I needed to liven up the next scene, possibly by having my characters deep in thought in a coffee shop, considering what to do next.
So I turned to ChatGPT for help.
I can't think of a single interesting event that happens while Eva sits in a coffee shop, contemplating her next move in unearthing the truth. We're in the dreary middle of a novel. Help me liven it up.
ChatGPT gives its advice:
No problem! Let's add a hint of an unexpected yet exciting twist to Eva's contemplative moment at the coffee shop:
As Eva sits in a coffee shop, she receives an encrypted message via her cell phone from an unknown sender. The message contains a cryptic puzzle that hints at a secret location that may hold important clues to her past and to the Whispering Bureau.
Out of curiosity and caution, Eva decides to solve the clues to the mystery. This leads her on a thrilling journey of mystery-seeking through various locations in the city, each of which provides clues to the puzzle. In the process, she meets friends and foes alike who are seeking to unlock the meaning of the puzzles.
As Eva edges closer to the answer to the puzzle, she realizes she's not the only one seeking the truth. Some rival, possibly some renegade vampires, or some underground organization fighting against the Whisper Bureau, is also searching for the same information.
[There are five more paragraphs in what follows. At the end, it promises that this will liven up the uninteresting middle paragraph].
"No problem!" This response was really great - it sent a signal of safety to me, as if to suggest that my solidity was golden and that all difficulties could be overcome. That pleasant tone of voice acted as a soothing influence on my negativity.
When you're in a difficult situation and want a cheerful voice to tell you that everything is going to be okay. Maybe just that confidence is enough. But then there are those inspirations--as mundane as they may be--that are representing _possibilities_, not _nothingness_ that floats hollowly in my head.
Why AI can't replace humans
I've pushed hard for AI to help writers. But with that comes a problem so depressing that it's boring:AI will replace writers. It's a common worry, and not limited to writers themselves. As a professional fiction editor-which has been my main source of income since 2018-I currently lead a team of six editors.
What about the editors? What about those cover designers? And all of us who work in or near creative fields?
In fact, I'm sure AI will eventually be used to create books. My editing company has taken on a manuscript created by AI, and one copy editor said to me, "I can't believe how conflicted I am that I'm going to like this story."
I laughed, but there was pain in the laugh.
AI is already capable of writing enjoyable stories, and it's just getting started. In a few years, it will undoubtedly be more capable.
For editors, the AI has a computer-grade accuracy. It's clearly capable of catching more grammatical errors that humans would miss, and this ability is only getting better.
I described it above as the perfect symbiotic companion. Endlessly optimistic, always there for you, and oh, it will even admit its mistakes. It has a great self-regulation.
So why can't AI replace people?
Because we are drawn to each other like moths to light. Because as a species, we love nothing more than to be _seen_ by others. Not just on the outside, but on the inside. Especially inside.
When we create, we are trying to be understood on the inside. Writing, photography, painting, dancing - all that we share with others is an attempt to be understood, to show some facet of who we are.
I think that when we read, we also desire to be seen by others - to feel understood by finding resonance in recognizing a character's actions, emotions, and experiences. In college, we often discussed the "commonality of the human experience". When we understand that other people in the world have the same emotions and similar life experiences as we do, we empathize with them. In truly understanding others, we see ourselves.
As an editor, telling a writer that their words made me laugh or cry is the best service I can do. Someone somewhere in the world has arranged the letters in a particular order and evoked real feelings in me. I get a glimpse into their mind and empathize with them.
AI may tell you it was moved to tears, but we all understand that's not true. While ChatGPT will be the first to tell you it can't cry because it's not human, there will come a time when the evolution of AI technology or the ethical standards surrounding it will brew up that lie.
_That would be a lie. _At least, until AI becomes perceptive. But that's a topic for the future.
Now here's the truth: our species is social. The most remarkable feature of our evolution as a species is our creativity. Imagine this: it is an evolutionary miracle that we can create entire worlds out of nothingness.
Nothing - absolutely nothing - can replace the supreme joy of creating, let alone others witnessing your work and thus understanding you better.
After completing the study, we recommend some 500 tips suggestions for using AI-assisted writing:
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