AI Wrote This… or B. I Wrote It? by Annmarie Miles

 As I’m subbing in on the MTW blog today, I thought I’d share what might be an unpopular opinion. :)

I’m pro AI.

Now, before anyone starts lobbing rotten vegetables in my direction, let me clarify a few things. I don’t think it’s okay to produce and sell an eBook generated by AI in fifteen minutes. I don’t think it’s right to submit articles or research papers that have simply been spat out by AI. I don’t think it’s okay to send marketing emails (see Paul Kerensa’s recent Facebook post) claiming you’ve read someone’s work when it was actually AI that read it. And I’m not entirely convinced about the idea of having an AI executive assistant either. (Someone I know has just “hired” one.)

But I also don’t believe the problem is AI.

I believe the problem is people.

There will always be people willing to take shortcuts. People happy to claim credit for work they haven’t done themselves. People willing to cut corners and publish shoddy work.

And that’s not new.

Like most technological advances, AI can be used for wonderful things, and it can be used for terrible things. I remember the wringing of hands when eBooks first appeared, and again when self-publishing became widespread. There were cries that it would be the end of “real writing”, and that publishing with integrity would disappear altogether. And yes, there are many self-published books that are released with little or no editing, and spelling mistakes that make your skin crawl.

But excellent writing still exists.

Excellent publishing still exists.

In fact, a great deal of it exists right here in this community.

I work for a company that teaches AI. Loud and proud. We coach women in social media and business development. And as with all technological breakthroughs, AI will replace a certain amount of work that people currently do. However, we believe that most people won’t be replaced by AI, but they may be replaced by someone who is proficient in AI. So we teach people how to understand it, how to use it with integrity, and how to get the best out of it.

And perhaps this is where integrity really comes in. AI can help with research, summaries, outlines and all sorts of clever things. But it can’t wrestle with God over a sentence. It can’t pray over a paragraph. It can’t sit with a half-written piece thinking, “Is this honest? Is this kind? Is this true?”

Those things still belong to us.

So fellow writers, my Spirit-filled, God-centred writing brothers and sisters, by all means, let’s campaign for the protection of writing and publishing. But I’d also like to put out a gentle call for calm.

Take heart.

Write with purpose, honesty, vulnerability and authenticity. Publish with excellence and integrity.

We have been called by God to tell our stories, so no algorithm, bot, or digital doojicker can stand against us.

Oh, and the answer to the question in the title is B :) 

Annmarie Miles is from Dublin, Ireland.

She lives with her husband Richard who is a pastor in the Govilon, in South Wales. She writes short stories, novels, magazine articles, devotional pieces for Christian radio, and serves as a volunteer broadcaster with UCBIreland. You can find out about her fiction and her podcast, Words, Wobbles and Wisdom, here.