Kelly this thought of yours should revolutionize all industries and sectors of human society. I feel a very repeated conclusion of the end, is that AI would take over and we as humans we would be nothing. Just existing. But I can smell hope in your writing. For the first time it’s not a discussion that finalizes on an impending doom of the human race but rather a conversation that is to be had. WE ARE MORE. We built the AI thing, it didn’t just be. We can do more, our realness goes beyond the generic flood of information that exists now and I am glad someone is willing to put that out there.
I’m a non-native English speaker, and I’ve been studying English on my own a long time. Your articles are very easy for me to read—the sentence structures are clear and straightforward. I think this is the difference between professional and non-professional writing.
The advent of AI has truly brought us a lot of convenience. When I encounter confusing problems while learning English on my own, AI can provide me answers directly. When I use Google, I often have to spend a lot of time searching for the answers I'm looking for.
Of course, the AI we have today is just reasoning-based and has not yet entered the era of Artificial General Intelligence. It doesn’t possess the ability to think independently like a human. When cars were first introduced, many carriage drivers lost their jobs. I think those drivers ever imagined that one day they would be unemployed.
We should embrace technology and learn to use it effectively to grow in this ever-evolving society. Complaining won’t stop technological progress. If crying could solve problems, I could cry a Pacific Ocean. But no matter how society develops, people remain at the heart of the economy. Because a lot of humans don’t know what they truly want. Before cars existed, if you asked someone what kind of transportation they desired, they might have said: I want a faster horse. But once cars were invented, if you asked the same question, they would say: I want the car with the fastest acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h, because now they have options.
So, we need to create products that align with human nature and build a business that is centered around people.
Yes!!! Robots in our homes doing all our housework are a way off, I suspect. Why did they come for the creative fun stuff first? Well, money. But still....
My main AI use case is as a first-line writing coach. And honestly, it excels at that. Somehow it offers enough encouragement to keep me going, with enough pointed criticism that I don’t feel I’m simply getting a generic “way to go!” back-pat.
I’m also working with a paid writing coach, so AI hasn’t completely replaced a human for me. I turn to my real writing coach for the heavier, knottier work. That helps me feel better about the whole thing, but there’s no denying AI is already replacing a lot of human labor.
My thoughts on AI parallel yours (not that I'm an expert). It is time to refocus and reconnect with what makes us uniquely human. It's the only element we have that AI doesn't. Here's to humanity!
I came at the first line of this article with with the kind of scepticism I've developed towards any and all the essays about AI that make the rounds every couple of days. But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I love the idea of doing the sorts of things only humans can do. In this vein, we can happily cede the grounds of generic and bland writing to AI, and take up the quirky, ridicously specific, uniquely human writing. In other words, we redefine what human writing and art is meant to be, and leave AI to do the things we know we don't need or want to.
Yes they are. My manager created a 1200 words ChatGPT blog in 30 mins so he gave me a deadline of 3/4 days to create 30 blogs. Which is sort of impossible cause I’ve to do topic research, keyword research, create structures, edit, post it or schedule it, create images for the blogs add in ctas, meta tags, interlinkings.
I've been thinking about this for a while now and you're so right! As a cooywriter I've gotten so bored of writing the hyper-optimized blog posts that are riddled with keywords and obnoxious buzzwords. That's one of the biggest reasons I started my own substack. I wanted to give myself a space to truly write without being encumbered by metrics or KPIs. I predict (as you also outlined) a shift back to old-school blogging like it was in the early 2000s where normal people shared their normal everyday stories and experiences in a purely unique and human way. And it's going to be a refreshing and welcomed experience for all of us.
Kelly, I have such heated feelings about this. Because there are good uses for AI. But using AI to not pay human writers is not one of them. Watching Medium get overrun with AI makes me ill. They are literally taking money out of real writer's pockets. It's not okay. So I guess my response as a 20-year writer is that the only way to deal with it is to find ways to write where AI has minimum impact on me.
Really good to be having this discussion- and you have nailed it when talking about prose/ fiction / creative writing. It’s the non fiction/ journalism/ graphic artist / photography roles and work that will be impacted most. AI will keep mining existing content to recreate and dish up words and ideas that originated with a writer/ creative at some other time or place.
Kelly, this is nothing short of incredible. This was meant for me to read this morning because it resonates deep inside me. The way you describe human connection in the face of adversity is nothing short of inspiring. Thank you for taking the time to craft this piece. People need this perspective right now. They need your words.
The thing with AI is I can see it replacing basic level jobs. Advertising copy and such. Short and quick writing that you might skim over. It's cheaper than paying a real person. But it will never be able to replace an Ernest Hemmingway or a James Ellroy or Agatha Christie and Spike Milligan. It's doesn't have that level of humanity to do that. Hopefully what it does is drives people to go down that route where things become a bit more left turn instead of right. Can you imagine any AI that can replicate Milligan's Goon Show scripts or his books? Read Puckoon. Good luck getting any computer to copy that level of lunacy without blowing up.
The only writers being made "obsolete" by AI are the cheap hacks with no literary imagination. Writers with genuine skill, talents and imaginations unique to themselves can and should still succeed.
Kelly this thought of yours should revolutionize all industries and sectors of human society. I feel a very repeated conclusion of the end, is that AI would take over and we as humans we would be nothing. Just existing. But I can smell hope in your writing. For the first time it’s not a discussion that finalizes on an impending doom of the human race but rather a conversation that is to be had. WE ARE MORE. We built the AI thing, it didn’t just be. We can do more, our realness goes beyond the generic flood of information that exists now and I am glad someone is willing to put that out there.
We are certainly more! I fully believe in our ability to be resilient as humans. To adapt and change and create.
Yes ! ❤️
I’m a non-native English speaker, and I’ve been studying English on my own a long time. Your articles are very easy for me to read—the sentence structures are clear and straightforward. I think this is the difference between professional and non-professional writing.
The advent of AI has truly brought us a lot of convenience. When I encounter confusing problems while learning English on my own, AI can provide me answers directly. When I use Google, I often have to spend a lot of time searching for the answers I'm looking for.
Of course, the AI we have today is just reasoning-based and has not yet entered the era of Artificial General Intelligence. It doesn’t possess the ability to think independently like a human. When cars were first introduced, many carriage drivers lost their jobs. I think those drivers ever imagined that one day they would be unemployed.
We should embrace technology and learn to use it effectively to grow in this ever-evolving society. Complaining won’t stop technological progress. If crying could solve problems, I could cry a Pacific Ocean. But no matter how society develops, people remain at the heart of the economy. Because a lot of humans don’t know what they truly want. Before cars existed, if you asked someone what kind of transportation they desired, they might have said: I want a faster horse. But once cars were invented, if you asked the same question, they would say: I want the car with the fastest acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h, because now they have options.
So, we need to create products that align with human nature and build a business that is centered around people.
I wish they made AI do manual labor jobs rather than creative jobs.
Yes!!! Robots in our homes doing all our housework are a way off, I suspect. Why did they come for the creative fun stuff first? Well, money. But still....
I know right!
AMEN!
I like your passion for writing 📝
My main AI use case is as a first-line writing coach. And honestly, it excels at that. Somehow it offers enough encouragement to keep me going, with enough pointed criticism that I don’t feel I’m simply getting a generic “way to go!” back-pat.
I’m also working with a paid writing coach, so AI hasn’t completely replaced a human for me. I turn to my real writing coach for the heavier, knottier work. That helps me feel better about the whole thing, but there’s no denying AI is already replacing a lot of human labor.
My thoughts on AI parallel yours (not that I'm an expert). It is time to refocus and reconnect with what makes us uniquely human. It's the only element we have that AI doesn't. Here's to humanity!
I came at the first line of this article with with the kind of scepticism I've developed towards any and all the essays about AI that make the rounds every couple of days. But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I love the idea of doing the sorts of things only humans can do. In this vein, we can happily cede the grounds of generic and bland writing to AI, and take up the quirky, ridicously specific, uniquely human writing. In other words, we redefine what human writing and art is meant to be, and leave AI to do the things we know we don't need or want to.
I hated using AI to write cause it made me feel like I’m not a writer. But now I know I need AI or I wont be able to complete my deadlines.
That's a lot of pressure. I'm sorry you're experiencing that.
Almost everyone working in a creative field is experiencing that. I wonder how everyone is dealing with it.
Do you think your clients (or managers) are expecting you to use AI and that's making those folks tighten your deadlines? If so, yikes!
Yes they are. My manager created a 1200 words ChatGPT blog in 30 mins so he gave me a deadline of 3/4 days to create 30 blogs. Which is sort of impossible cause I’ve to do topic research, keyword research, create structures, edit, post it or schedule it, create images for the blogs add in ctas, meta tags, interlinkings.
I just dread the start of every month.
Oh, my--I'm so sorry about this.
I've been thinking about this for a while now and you're so right! As a cooywriter I've gotten so bored of writing the hyper-optimized blog posts that are riddled with keywords and obnoxious buzzwords. That's one of the biggest reasons I started my own substack. I wanted to give myself a space to truly write without being encumbered by metrics or KPIs. I predict (as you also outlined) a shift back to old-school blogging like it was in the early 2000s where normal people shared their normal everyday stories and experiences in a purely unique and human way. And it's going to be a refreshing and welcomed experience for all of us.
Kelly, I have such heated feelings about this. Because there are good uses for AI. But using AI to not pay human writers is not one of them. Watching Medium get overrun with AI makes me ill. They are literally taking money out of real writer's pockets. It's not okay. So I guess my response as a 20-year writer is that the only way to deal with it is to find ways to write where AI has minimum impact on me.
It makes me ill too. I don't know if Medium can fix it either.
Really good to be having this discussion- and you have nailed it when talking about prose/ fiction / creative writing. It’s the non fiction/ journalism/ graphic artist / photography roles and work that will be impacted most. AI will keep mining existing content to recreate and dish up words and ideas that originated with a writer/ creative at some other time or place.
Kelly, this is nothing short of incredible. This was meant for me to read this morning because it resonates deep inside me. The way you describe human connection in the face of adversity is nothing short of inspiring. Thank you for taking the time to craft this piece. People need this perspective right now. They need your words.
The thing with AI is I can see it replacing basic level jobs. Advertising copy and such. Short and quick writing that you might skim over. It's cheaper than paying a real person. But it will never be able to replace an Ernest Hemmingway or a James Ellroy or Agatha Christie and Spike Milligan. It's doesn't have that level of humanity to do that. Hopefully what it does is drives people to go down that route where things become a bit more left turn instead of right. Can you imagine any AI that can replicate Milligan's Goon Show scripts or his books? Read Puckoon. Good luck getting any computer to copy that level of lunacy without blowing up.
Content creators are easily replaced. Writers are not.
This was a brilliant read. AI is here to stay.
good writing however will start to stand out even more amidst the rubble. Thanks for writing this :)
The only writers being made "obsolete" by AI are the cheap hacks with no literary imagination. Writers with genuine skill, talents and imaginations unique to themselves can and should still succeed.