Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the October 4 posting of the IWSG are Natalie Aguirre, Kim Lajevardi, Debs Carey, Gwen Gardner, Patricia Josephine, and Rebecca Douglass!
October 4 question: The topic of AI writing has been heavily debated across the world. According to various sources, generative AI will assist writers, not replace them. What are your thoughts?
A while back, I talked about AI in a blog post. While I don’t use it in a major way, I do use a computer program for spell and grammar checking. Although the program I use (ProWritingAid) also offers potential fixes for problematic sentence structure, that feature feels inadequate, and I mostly ignore it.
I haven’t used any AI program to ‘write.’ I’ve run into what I suspect are AI generated blog posts, and found them lacking in their content and writing style. But would an average reader feel the same way?
My worry is that until better tools are created to identify what is computer generated vs. what a human has written, AI content will be a threat. There are already bogus books on Amazon that Amazon hasn’t figured out how to detect. (But Amazon has always had a problem with ‘fake’ books.) If readers get bitten by additional sham books and dodgy writing, the whole writing community will be suspect. That could be a major problem for indie authors.
It feels as if we are in for a rough transition. I hate to see authors losing income to people who are churning out content with little or no effort on their part. But AI tools can also be beneficial if used properly.
Check out some of the other writers on this hop my following the links below.
Until next time, please stay safe.
Goodness, I didn’t realize there were fake books on Amazon to begin with. Maybe I’ve just been lucky so far not to grab one? I did read a book where the author clearly stated on the blurb that she used AI to assist in the writing of the book. I don’t know to what extent, but it was okay. I didn’t think it was as good as her other books I’ve read.
As an author, I don’t think it’s worth trying to speed things up by taking the easy way out. The process of digging deep to find the words is what brings the book to life.
I have heard stories of ‘books’ where the first few pages (front and back) are ‘real’ English’, but everything in-between is garbage. (No, I haven’t bought one, either.)
WordPress isn’t allowing me to Like. Count me in. My favourite geek is reassuring – for now, but has promised to investigate extra protection.
His job includes teaching computers, off duty, rescues me from IT
pitfalls.
Experiencing ID fraud over ten years ago has left me wary – ironically, I found out because a government office called me in, and I had to bring every piece of documentation I had.
I don’t understand how Word Press works somedays!
Good point that our spell/grammar checkers are also AI. I don’t use grammar checkers–I usually find that they flag things that I have done deliberately, and aren’t up to complex use of language. Love my spell-checker, though!
I have found the grammar checking helpful for mistakes that I don’t ‘see’ when I am editing! (And great for finding double spaces where they aren’t needed.)
One of my big concerns is AI-written articles that aren’t fact-checked by humans. I’ve seen numerous discussions about flat-out inaccurate information presented as fact by AI, which could cause harm to people following the advice. @samanthabwriter from
Balancing Act
I heard about a lawyer who used AI to write a response to a court case. The judge reviewed his citations and found that a number of them were bogus. (The lawyer didn’t check them.) That resulted in the lawyer being sanctioned by the court.
I don’t know or think that the average reader would notice an AI composed piece unless it was particularly poorly written, but then without knowledge of AI one might just think it was bad writing. I’m not sure that I have read any AI generated material, but I’ve read some really poorly written stuff.
Lee
My main concern is that AI material will flood an already saturated fiction market with less than stellar books with lower prices. Those using it, will garner money by using mass outputs of information/books that may or may not be truthful and worthy of reading. I think of it as buying a new cheap candy bar. If you don’t like it, you just throw it away–or delete it. It still, nonetheless, generates revenue for the author/sources using AI.
I also worry that AI will eventually steal portions of works by authors. It will be impossible for writers of limited financial mean to even think of bringing a court case of plagiarism against larger, more wealthy sources which are churning out mass quantities.
I agree, it can be an excellent tool when in the correct hands and a real devil when in the wrong hands. As for Amazon, I do not trust their interest in protecting authors considering how poorly they have handled so many other issues in the past. At the end of the day, as long as READERS are protected, they will not care. And since there are plenty of readers who love fodder as long as it hits their tropes and passions I think there will be lots of authors who will learn to do so with AI to keep driving that publish faster mentality.
That is what made me return to writing as a side hustle and passionate hobby. I cannot produce quality unique content at that rate and I am not here to write dime store novels. Nothing against those who do, just not what I want to do.