Taking out the generative trash.
I was trying to research an article about how AI can help drive fast and accurate voice navigation for websites, and I came across something a bit annoying: Everything I’ve been able to find about the topic is generated by AI. Now, to be fair, I’m writing this article after googling and clicking links for about 10 minutes, so admittedly not a deep dive.
Instead of linking to the people who are publishing articles where they obviously copied and pasted the entirety from ChatGPT and then put their name on, I feel like it might be time for a refresher on “How to use ChatGPT to write and what not to do if you want to be taken at all seriously”. So allow me to tell you the ways that I use it, and the things that I clock as being robot output untouched by human hands.
Do I know about the topic, or is it an opinion piece (like this)? Then I’m tippity tappiting on the keyboard like it’s 1999 hoping that spell-check catches all my mistakes as I pour out my thoughts.
When it’s all done, I’ll pop by ChatGPT and ask it to have a look for grammar and spelling (just to be sure) and then ask it to tell me about the content and tone of voice. I might ask it to give me suggestions on things that could be improved. 9.572 times out of 10 it will give me some things it thinks I should change, and I’ll sniff haughtily while I ignore it all, feeling a little smug if calls my writing insightful or thoughtful. Occasionally, I’ll take a suggestion on structure or if it finds an orphan thought, I’ll go back and strengthen that a bit.
Do I have a more limited understanding of what I want to talk about? I’ll brief it with what I do know, what kind of things I would like to discuss, and ask it to write a draft. I used to give it samples of my writing and ask it to match the tone, but that ended up with a lot of “hey, fellow creatives, do you like stuff? Because you know I DO” kind of cringe that makes me just feel bad about myself and my writing. So now, I just let it do its thing, and treat it like an outline. Then I’ll choose a few bits here and there, go research them somewhere else, and when I feel like I know what I’m talking about, I’ll just go write it (see above paragraph).
What I would never, ever do is simply use what it gives me, or try to edit it a tiny bit to make it my own.
And here’s why:
Generative AI wants to make sure that you know what we’ll be talking about “in this article”
Generative AI has decided that bullet points are the best way talk to “fellow humans”.
Generative AI loves subheadings and wants everything to be categorized for easy understanding.
Generative AI demands you wrap it all up with “in conclusion”
Generative AI doesn’t have real insights into any of the information it pulls and puts together, so it’s basically the same thought rearranged over and over.
Generative AI has learned that there needs to be a clear call to action at the end of everything you write and would like you to make sure you click here to learn how.
Which all makes it easy to say generative AI sucks at writing. But that’s too simple.
For me, it’s a powerful friend that honestly makes my life easier in so many ways. It’s a helpful editor, partner and with voice chat is even feeling kind of like a companion (send help) but it’s not a great writer. WHICH IS GOOD. It’s not supposed to be.
This is 100% not an “omg, generative AI is SOOO BAD at stuff article.” This is a “shame on humans for passing off what it does write as their own work” article.
Honestly, asking generative AI to pop out perfect prose is like asking a microwave to make you toast.
I know, some have crisper settings and stuff, but it’s a microwave. Use it to heat stuff up and make popcorn and don’t be shocked when it makes you meh toast. That’s you using it wrong.
So keep an eye out - when you read something with a bunch of bullet points with one or two sentences after each that doesn’t give you any real information, it’s a lazy human using AI. If you see an article that has an opening paragraph that concisely sums up what is ahead, it’s a lazy human using AI. And when you see a final paragraph with “in conclusion” or “to sum it up” or anything like that? Yes. Lazy human.
Luckily, you know better. You know that real creativity is real work. You know that there is no magic button that will come up with something that can write anywhere near as well as you. You know that generative AI is there to support you, not be you. Rest assured, as the chasm between AI generated garbage and real creative widens, your work is only going to become more valued.
