AI vs You
A copy of “The Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer
AI is one of the most contentious topics in the writing community. I’ve avoided the subject because I wasn’t up for a rant. But since it appears to be here to stay and continues to come up in my writing coaching sessions, I’ve been making an effort to engage with it.
“If you know your enemy and know yourself,” wrote Sun Tzu, “you need not fear the result of one hundred battles.”
A few years ago, a friend with a marketing background offered to review my website. When she ran the content through AI, it generated a bio that, except for a minor fixable misinterpretations, was pretty much on the mark.
AI has also come up in my coaching sessions. One writer who was struggling to write a table of contents for her nonfiction book found relief when she turned to AI. It took all the think-partnering work we did together and created several options for a possible structure. Another writer I work with has used it to help her decipher book editor notes and integrate poetic forms in her writing.
I have turned to AI to help me better express my coaching and editorial services. It was also interesting to see how AI articulated who I am in the literary and publishing world.
Bottom line: I have come to appreciate AI’s concision and clear phrasing. It does a decent job of defining, organizing and summarizing and providing a selection of synonyms, antonyms and titles. I am, however, keenly aware of what AI cannot do: It universalizes rather than particularizes. AI doesn’t individuate.
No matter how many writing styles, feeling words or emotionally-rich adjectives that are poured into it, artificial intelligence will never be able to bring a person’s full voice - the equivalent of a writer’s soul - to the page. I agree with the NYTimes reader who, in response to an article on the topic, wrote that “AI is a great tool for writers who want to sound like everyone else.” I have yet to meet a writer of any kind who wants to sound like everyone else.
Whether you think of yourself as a writer, writing-adjacent or just someone with a writing project in mind, you want your signature on your work. You want to make your own mark. To leave a part of yourself on the page for personal discovery, legacy, business or publication. The words have to come from a place of authenticity that can only come from you, with guidance,when needed, which is where craft and coaching comes in.
Artificial intelligence is a good tool but it could never, ever, compete with the original.
What’s New
DIY guidebooks, coaching and editorial services as well as my free inspirational offerings are now available with prices on my website. Click on over and scroll down to find it here.
After a week in the desert, I had some thoughts about Passover which was posted on Ritualwell’s site here. To those who participate, may yours be meaningful this year.
