Prepare yourself for a surprise:
- I think generative AI is great.
.
I imagine you thought I'd trash it, given that content creation is my living.
But no. I love using it.
Chat GPT, and Google's Gemini, and all the others have a lot to offer a writer and teacher.
I set them to work for ideas, and structures, and research, and they save me time. Bless them!
.
But here's the irony:
- The more I use generative AI, the less I worry about it replacing we mere human scribblers and lecturers.
.
Why? Well, because there's something I've never seen AI manage to do well.
And probably because it's at the heart of being human.
.
To demonstrate my point, I asked Chat GPT:
- Write a story in only six words.
This is what it came up with:
- Forgotten ring. Missed train. Lifetime apart.
.
What do you reckon? It's ok, isn't it, being fair?
But... it's also rather obvious. A bit flat. Something's missing.
Something important.
.
The reason for my choice of challenge to the bot is the legendary anecdote about the great author Ernest Hemingway.
He was - apparently, however much it may be contested - asked to write a story in only six words.
Which he did, and his answer has become the stuff of legend.
.
Before we get to that, here's what Chat GPT produced when I asked it to write a story in only six words, in the style of Ernest Hemingway:
- Empty bottle. Faded letter. No reply.
.
Again, it's ok. But does it hit to the heart and produce a shudder? Is it really memorable?
Not entirely. Not much at all, in fact.
Certainly not when compared with the six word story Hemingway is said to have written:
- For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
.
What reaction did that prompt in you?
If you're like me it set your imagination flying, painting the scene in your mind.
And not just that, but also seeing the characters, what had happened to them, and the impact it had on their lives.
All that in just six words.
.
Which brings us to The Big AI Fail, the title, and point, of this blog.
- Creativity.
That spark of the essence of pure humanity, which can conjure genius from the dark mysteries of the mind.
I've never seen AI come close to such inspiration, and I hope - and strongly suspect - that I never will.
.
So, by all means use Chat GPT, and Gemini, and the rest of the AI bot bunch for ideas, and research, and structures, but never...
Never, never, NEVER in fact...
Forsake your beautiful human creativity.
