The use of AI in writing is a hot-button topic in the writing community.
People are worried that AI writing will lead to lower quality and lack the nuance and humanity that human writers bring to the table. Machines can crank out millions of words without getting tired and at a much lower cost, making them a potential replacement for some types of writing that don’t need a personal touch.
My main concern is how AI learns by using the work of established authors without permission. Even if authors are paid for their work being used this way, it raises serious ethical issues about training machines to potentially take over our jobs.
With attention spans getting shorter, the future of reading stories instead of watching videos looks uncertain. There’s not much research on how using smart devices affects our brains, and I worry that future generations might lose the ability to enjoy stories and information through reading.
Proponents say the use of AI in writing is here to stay, and we need to adapt or be left behind.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever use AI to write, because my stories are complex and layered. However, I do use ProWritingAid for copy-editing since it’s great at spotting repetitions, which is a weakness I’m working on as I write more books. I wrote about some of the writing software I use in my last post: my use of AI in writing would probably remain limited to those.
If you’re a reader, would you buy books written by AI? Do you think you’d be able to tell the difference? If you’re an author, which side of the AI divide do you stand on? Do you use AI in writing?
This is the first Wednesday of the month post for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Founded by the Ninja Cap’n Alex J. Cavanaugh, the purpose of the group is to offer a safe space where writers can share their fears and insecurities without being judged.
The awesome co-hosts for the posting of the IWSG are Feather Stone, Kim Lajevardi, Diedre Knight, C. Lee McKenzie, and Sarah – The Faux Fountain Pen!
My literary crime novels, The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon are on Kindle Unlimited now. Add to Goodreads or snag a copy to make my day ! And if you’d like to read a book outside the series, you can check out You Beneath Your Skin. Find all info about my books on my Amazon page or Linktree.
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🙏🏼🙋🏻♀️🌹🌹Good morning, wonderful post, well done, good luck and have a nice day, my love
I don’t use AI. I’ve experimented with it for thought starters (a description of a flying monster, for example), but the output is over the top cliched. I do like it for research – that’s a huge time saver. 🙂
I don’t know how I could use AI in my writing. For research, sure. But I don’t see how I could get it to write a chapter that develops a couple of characters, has good physical background so readers can visualize it, and which propels the story forward.
If an author stated that AI was used for part of a novel, I might read it, but only if it were interesting.
I don’t like apps and use none whatsoever. I rely on two Beta readers with bird-eyes attention. Comment are done on a printed MS.
OK, it’s a bit expensive to print out every round of edits, and post them to my Beta readers. But that’s how I and they like it.
And while editing, I read out my chapters aloud – useful to spot repetitions, flow, sentence structures, well, the music of the the text.
Thanks for sharing! That sounds like such a great process, and I love the idea of constant two-way feedback.
Hey Damyanti 🙂
it’s me again! 😛
I just noticed now that apparently what was an earlier post (“Writing Software”, to which I had been replied) has become this post (“AI in writing”, to which I have now lately replied — yet without reading the current state of the post again).
This is probably confusing for readers. Perhaps you could clarify this in the post, and perhaps even recover both versions of the post — and even post them next to each other?
Whatever. I guess it was simply a mistake and I thought it might be helpful to point it out.
Plus, your link to the other post currently returns a 404-error.
🙂 Norbert
Oh, dear. I’ve been swamped with deadlines and didn’t notice— I must have used the earlier post as the draft for this one, so I may have no way of retrieving it. Thanks for pointing this out! I need to be careful not to keep cannibalizing my own posts in future.
Maybe the revision history (in the Editor view) might help?
I’ll take a look, and hopefully that might work. Thank you for the suggestion!
For now, AI in writing doesn’t fit in with my system. Maybe later, I might warm up to it. But I’d like to believe not. Whether right or wrong, this invasion of AI is very disappointing.
And an invasion it undoubtedly is. Everywhere I look, AI seems to have left its trace. I just hope that this proliferation of AI doesn’t leave us dependent on it. I definitely don’t plan on allowing it to write for me.
“The use of AI is here to stay and we need to either adapt or stay behind” Those definitely are the proponents who say that but they don’t necessarily say that for fact, they say it because they want it that way, because it serves them and them only. I’ve heard that line too often about other things, including when ebooks came on the rise and implying that “print is dead”. But today print and ebook format are thriving side by side happily enough. So, I wouldn’t worry too much about that.
As long as there’s people like you and me who are willing to coninue to support the human factor in writing and art, we’ll still have writing and art made by living human beings at least to some degree or another.
Those are very good points you bring up.
That’s so true. It’s wonderful to see how digital and print publications are both present in the literary world, despite the warnings and worry of many a writer and publishing agency. I hope AI works the same way. As you said, with all the people out there who love and respect real, human creativity, there is definitely much hope for the future of art and writing. Thank you for sharing!
AI is a double edged sword right now, isn’t it? It is a concern. Though, I’ve used it for posts and audio.
Yes, very much so. I know AI is an irremovable addition to our society, so I really just hope that its negative effects can somehow be permanently mitigated.
I support my fellow humans so I will not buy a book that’s been written with AI or has an AI cover. If we can ever figure out the ethical concerns there may be things – like where you are currently using like finding repetition – that I can use as a tool but creating is what I do and I’m not going to hand that over to a machine
I completely understand where you’re coming from. I’m furious at the idea that AI is feeding off creators’ hard work and honed skills, especially since much of it occurs without the originator’s consent. It’s a terrifying and terrible practice, and I hope that the ethical issues of AI are resolved as quickly as possible.
The word repetition can be a problem for many writers, so that feels like one good use of AI. The rest of it seems fraught with issues, as you mentioned.
Absolutely. So far, I feel that the costs outweigh the benefits, but I desperately hope that we can find balance with the usage of AI in modern society.
I like the idea of using it to spot repetitions. If you know you have a weakness in your writing, and an AI can help you counteract that weakness, that’s great. I think there are some great ways AI can help with writing, but I don’t think it can replace writers entirely (no matter how much the tech industry keeps insisting that it can).
Well said, and I couldn’t agree more. Real writers are far too valuable and unique to be replaced by AI, considering their abilities to bring more warmth and spirit to their works than AI ever could.
Yeah, I’m sure AI has some useful purposes, but the idea that it can replace human writers entirely is plain silly.
Plagiarism and falsification are my biggest concerns about AI. And if I were a voice actor, I’d be very angry. I hope the strike resolved the issues.
I absolutely agree. That aspect of AI is unacceptable, especially since it means stealing livelihoods from hard-working individuals.
It might be interesting to have some stories written by different so-called AI software, and then to test whether any humans can identify which software created which story. :p
That does sound like an interesting idea. My only concern is that AI might use the work of real writers in order to come up with stories, although I certainly think that the authors would be able to do a much better job, either way.
Yes, of course — and if humans can also identify plagiarism, then that would be a bonus (maybe publishers might even be open to promoting this, in order to secure their investments in HI [human intelligence] 😉 )
I look to my kids and the fact that they still enjoy reading to give me hope for the future of books. To me, reading is a different experience than videos. Movies haven’t eradicated books, so I don’t think videos will either.
Yeah, I don’t think AI is going to get better than humans at writing stories. Though maybe it’ll figure out what history lessons are based in fact instead of opinion. Or at least present the various sides of the lessons.
That’s true, and a good point. I wouldn’t like to read stories written by AI, but maybe more factual accounts.
Good answer, Damyanti. I wonder if I’ve bought books written by AI and didn’t know. I like to think I would…
I’d like to think I would, too! Although I think that so far, I’ve been able to pick out the authentic from the AI.
Gack! I couldn’t find the comment section. I think aided AI works, sure I haven’t done anything but use ProWritingAid for find all my grammar issues or where I’ve started three sentences in a row with the same word, but I wouldn’t be surprise by more people using it to help with other stuff. Help being the important word here. Written by seems weird. I’m might read it though out of curiosity.
Agreed, I wouldn’t like to see AI being the sole originator of all creative work. I want to see the individuality and uniqueness which comes from each author integrated into the stories being put out into the world.
Interesting tools Damyanti. I’m definitely A Microsoft Word gal myself, and was lucky enough to grab a lifetime license for ProWritingAid about five years ago! And do I ever know what you mean about dodging the laptop every once in a while. After such a long edit, do enjoy a time out. <3
Wow, that sounds fabulous! MS Word has helped me so much over the years, and I doubt it’ll ever stop being one of my go-to writing tools. It’s just so easy and convenient, plus I’ve been using it for far too long to ditch it for something else. And thank you, I’m hoping to take a nice break soon!
Sounds like you could really use a break. Indulge and enjoy some peaceful timeout. 🙂 xx
I’m amazed that you edited and rewrote 120,000 words in a month. I hope you get some rest. I’m glad you found writing tools that work for you. I just use Word and Grammarly.
Thank you, I’m definitely looking forward to taking a little break, and hopefully soon. Word and Grammarly are great options!
Delete my words? I think Write or Die would give me a heart attack. LOL
It certainly took a while to get used to! 🤣🤣
Grammarly is great if not a bit obsessive. 😂
Obsessive is the word I would use, too! 🤣
I use Word. I tried Scrivener, but it didn’t seem intuitive, and was taking too long to get to grips with (which interfered with concentration on the writing itself). What’s more, I realised that it didn’t have anything you couldn’t do just as easily with a word processor, a spreadsheet app, and a good filing system, with folders for characters, places, etc. My trial of Scrivener did help me see how I could make better use of the resources I already had. But I’m with Hilary – pencil (or pen) and paper are of fundamental importance, both for making notes, and for first drafts.
Sorry you’re overwhelmed Damyanti. If it’s any consolation, I know how it feels – since getting back from holiday early Sunday morning I’ve battled with housework, garden maintenance, decorating, and writing admin, on top of work (which fortunately nowadays is only part-time). Oh, and I’ve also been catching up on practising my musical instruments, before I start to forget the extensive repertoire I’ve spent so long learning. I managed to write a few pages of my next novel while on holiday, but haven’t found the time since getting back.
best wishes,
Graham
Word seems to be the staple for most authors, and I can definitely see why. It’s practically engrained into my system now, which makes it so much more convenient than entirely switching over to something new. A pity that Scrivener wasn’t the right fit for you, but I’m glad to hear how many other tools you have on hand to help out! And like you and Hilary, a pen and paper are never too far from my work desk. So sorry that you’ve been feeling overwhelmed recently. With all the tasks you’ve had lined up for you, I’m so grateful that you took the time to comment. Hoping everything is going well and that you manage to free up enough time for your writing.
Hi Damyanti 🙂
My favorite writing software is a text editor (I usually use the markdown recognized by WP) or sometimes OpenOffice.
And I can’t LIVE without HTML.
🙂 Norbert
OpenOffice sounds like an interesting one!
I like it, but TBH IDK how well it’s being maintained 😐
Hi Damyanti – I hear you re … what did we do before these things?! Mind you I still can’t do without my paper …but I hope it’s because I’m of that era … so move between the two – but if something needs to be done … it’s here on the machine. Scrivener I’d get to grips with if I was writing books etc … but there are choices; and thank goodness for learning to type! Cheers and hope you feel easier soon – Hilary xo
I really don’t know, I can’t imagine life without them now! Some took me a while to get used to, but I’m glad I did. Writing and editing can be a pretty arduous process and I’m always grateful for a little help. I do still enjoy writing on paper, especially when it comes to jotting down random ideas and story scraps. A good old pen and notebook are always nice to have on hand, even if sometimes only for the sentiment and comfort. Thank you for commenting and for the kind words — wishing you all the best!
Aside from Google Docs and MS Word, which I use daily I did not know about this software. Interesting suggestions. I might try out some of these. I have to say that editing / rewriting 120,000 words in one month is quite impressive. 🏆🏆🏆
I’m glad to have been able to share something new and potentially helpful! I hope they work well for you if you do decide to try them. I can certainly vouch for their usefulness — they’ve made my life so much easier. And thank you for the kind words!
I think AI is invasive and there are concerns about it absorbing our information and spreading it around while doing its AI tasks and this concern comes from people who know how it all works. However, it’s been around in different formats for a long time now and just made more powerful, so people are beginning to understand the downside.
Images of Australian children found in AI training database
Images of Australian children have been found in a dataset – used to train AI. They’re publicly available, without the permission of the children or their families, and include personal information such as names, locations, and ages. The photos were uncovered by researchers from human rights watch.
Yes, AI can be so scary, especially when considering how many shapes and forms it can take and how difficult it can be to keep personal information or even creative work private and protected.
I know a few writers who use Write or Die. It gets them going, and keeps them going so that inner editor/inner critic doesn’t get a chance to slow them down. Whatever works works!
It’s a constant battle between needing to hit the word count and feeling the urge to nitpick every sentence!
If I could only use one software program, it would have to be Word, the old standby.
Word is a classic!
Scrivener, Word to finish the wordprocessing details, and as many trips through AutoCrit’s counting functions (ONLY) necessary to not overdo repeating words in a scene.
I wouldn’t use AI if you paid me, but counting how many times I’ve used ‘that’ is boring. After AC counts them, deciding which stay, which can be eliminated, and which can be switched to ‘which,’ is my job.
Then I let Scrivener read things in pieces and in full until, even with the idiot robot voice and peculiar parsing, it flows – another human-only function.
I write for readers comfortable with literature, comfortable with long sentences and odd phrasing to make a point, and who can keep a complex story in mind for hundreds of thousands of words – I owe them the best I can produce.
Thank you for sharing! I have the same issue with repeating words. Since I try to force myself not to edit while writing, just so I can bypass my perfectionistic tendencies, the actual editing phase drives me a little crazy thanks to the number of glaring repetitions or redundancies I somehow managed to overlook. Of course, I’m ever grateful for how many writing tools there are to help speed along the process.
As for writing apps, I use several, but my workhorse is Scrivener. Like a Swiss army knife, Scrivener is a word processor, mind mapper, index card, storyboard, and so much more. I have yet to exhaust Scrivener’s capabilities, whether for fiction, non-fiction, or database.
When needed, I use Apple Pages (excellent for making colored and formatted PDF ebooks) and Microsoft Word (exchanging docs). Also, TextEdit comes in handy for doctoring code.
Not mentioned in the rundown was Atticus, and while it’s known for powerful formatting, it also works as an online word processor.
For note taking on multiple devices, Apple Notes is my go-to tool, and it’s especially handy for capturing websites and most on-the-fly content.
As a power user of ProWritingAid, I can’t imagine going back to Grammarly, but that might be more of a personal preference that a one-to-one feature/benefit comparison.
I’ll have to check out Write or Die.
Thanks for the many insights, Damyanti! [Note: Comments on the site are not working, so I’m using the WP Reader.]
I love the metaphor you used for Scrivener, and I might have to start using it now because I couldn’t agree more! It has such an extensive list of capabilities, which I have yet to reach the end of. Thank you for mentioning Atticus. It hasn’t been one of my recent go-to’s, but I’d like to check it out when I can. ProWritingAid is such a good one! I was having issues with Grammarly, so I’m very relieved to have found what I also feel is a better option. Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your thoughts!
You’re welcome, Damyanti. When you get into Scrivener, let me hear from you. I love using it for storyboarding and multi-POV with subplots. It’s visuals help pull it all together so you’re not going back and forth to a spreadsheet.
Hi Damyanti, Thanks for mentioning Write or Die. I didn’t know about it but I will surely be checking it out.
Yes, I’m lucky to have picked it up. Hope you find it useful, Sonia!
WriteOrDie got my attention! That is one command to pay attention to.
https://cleemckenziebooks.substack.com/p/something-new-this-way-comes
Yes, it’s been so helpful for me! And when procrastination strikes is when WriteOrDie is at its most useful 😂
Definitely Scrivener, even though I only use a fraction of the features. Being able to jump easily from one section of a manuscript to another is essential. Word is for compiling the manuscript and sending it back and forth to my editor using the ‘Review’ features.
The other thing I find useful, though it’s more hardware than software, is the Amazon Scribe, an e-reader with a pen. I use it to keep a handwritten notebook, useful when travelling especially when a laptop is cumbersome, with templates to create the equivalent of a paper desk diary, and a good option when note-taking at conferences etc. As well as Kindle books I keep pdfs on it – I annotate as I read and can easily find my notes afterwards, so it’s useful for research and for compiling book reviews. Probably other tablets and e-readers offer similar functions – I don’t want to favour Amazon!
I agree, I sometimes forget what I’ve written in earlier sections and need to skip back a few chapters to make sure I’m not straying too far from the plot 😅 And of course, just checking that everything has a proper flow. Amazon Scribe sounds like an interesting option! I’ve considered it once or twice, but never really delved too deeply into how I might use it. But with all the promising benefits you listed, I think I should take a closer look. Thank you for sharing, that’s so helpful!
Good list! I had to click through that first one. It fits most writers I know.
I’m glad you found something new!
😅 I couldn’t find the comment box! Doh! I’m a Word person. I’m finding a lot of people are, that or pen and paper. I tried Otterly for dictation once and I just didn’t get into it. But that may change.
So glad you found it! I use Word only in the end stages. I love pen and paper, but find it impossible to draft novels with them. I use the dictation feature in Word, and it works well. I’ll have to come back and check on typos in this post when am less blind, but I increasingly find that dictation does the job in a pinch.
Sorry you are exhausted.
I only use Word. And good point about not giving AI any of your stuff if you can help it.
Thanks, Alex. Word doesn’t help me drag and drop scenes and chapters, and offers none of Scrivener’s features, so I stick with it at only the end stages of novel publication.