You’re probably getting sick of hearing about ChatGPT. (Unless you’ve been sleeping…) In
essence, ChatGPT is a revolutionary AI technology that can write original content with just a
few prompts – and sound very human while doing it! Is this the end for writers?

I don’t think so. While it is truly amazing, and while it may cause some fear and trepidation for
certain groups of people (writers and teachers as examples), I don’t think it’s going to take over
the world – yet.

I’ve had some fun experimenting, and I have to say, I am impressed. However, its limitations
include the following:

• It may occasionally generate incorrect information.

• It may occasionally produce harmful instructions of biased content.

• It has limited knowledge of world events after 2021. (But this is changing daily as more
  information is being added.)

When I asked it to write me a 600-word article on the importance of fiction, it actually came up
with a pretty good offering. It was readable and friendly, in a nice multi-paragraph format that
any teacher would be proud of. (And it actually had some good ideas about why fiction is
important!) On the other hand, it sounded very formulaic. The article had no soul.

However, as Lorrie Orr so adeptly showed in her recent blog post on Inscribe Writers Online,
ChatGPT will revise its writing based on your suggestions. Her initial prompt on developing a
unique writing style went from mediocre and boring to quite interesting simply by asking it to
write in the style of various authors, including Margaret Atwood and Charles Dickens. I love this
quote from her piece: “The irony of a ChatBot writing ‘Above all, let your writing be an
authentic reflection of your personality and values, without compromising your integrity’ was
not lost on me.” No kidding! I highly recommend you read the entire post:
https://inscribewritersonline.blogspot.com/2023/04/developing-writing-style-experiment-in.html

I went way out on a limb and asked it to write about me as a novelist. To my surprise, it came up
with a few true statements, probably gleaned from my website, but there was some serious
misinformation, too! (Apparently, my book MY MOTHER THE MAN-EATER is about a daughter
who is surprised to find out her mother is a cannibal… NOT!) The moral is, if you’re going to
use it, you will need to do some thorough fact-checking afterward.

I think there will always be room for truly creative thinking, as in “human” thinking. I don’t think
it has the capability to recreate that human element yet, although it is a close facsimile.
Technical manuals – yes. Form letters, informational articles, mundane business – yes. One
teacher I know used it successfully to write the instructions for a suite of online course. It saved
him a ton of time. But fantasy novels and short stories full of life and soul? Not so much.

Next time we’ll delve more deeply into some of the ways writers are using this technology
without comprising their own creativity.

Some of these ideas were originally shared on my blog: https://tracykrauss.com/chatting-about-
chatgpt/