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Introduction
Your future book purchase might be authored by artificial intelligence (AI), and this phenomenon has raised concerns among experts who argue that it may negatively impact both creativity and authenticity of experience. It may also impinge upon the copyright of other authors.
AI-generated books are making their presence felt in online commerce marketplaces. According to a recent study, by February 2023, there were more than 200 e-books available on Amazon's Kindle store that credited ChatGPT as either the primary author or as co-author. And these are only the books where the author has made the declaration - since there are no standard content guidelines around using AI tools for books, there are countless authors who have used AI without announcing the fact on Amazon. This makes the number of AI-generated books staggering.
The titles encompass a variety of genres, such as ‘How to Write and Create Content Using ChatGPT,’ ‘The Power of Homework,’ and even a poetry collection titled ‘Echoes of the Universe.’ Source
As AI turns omnipresent, it prompts important questions about the future of professional writing.
Where Is AI Right Now?
The latest ChatGPT, GPT-4, impressively scored 90th percentile on the bar exam.
It's not alone in AI advancements; Microsoft's Bing integrates an enhanced ChatGPT, and Google has introduced Bard, signifying AI's widespread integration in areas like search, communication, business operations, and art and writing.
Can AI Write Books?
In brief, yes, AI can generate readable content, even full-length books, with the right prompts.
However, the decision to use AI for writing your book comes with its own set of pros and cons.
Stanford University researchers suggest that machines lack the ability to fully grasp the intentions behind human writing. The transformer model, used by AI, relies on probability. So AI cannot be compassionate, ethical, or even humorous. Additionally, it hallucinates - so you need to fact-check the output.
In case of book writing, these limitations can make them prone to generating unexpected plot developments and steering the story in unforeseen directions, some of which might be harmful.
Can AI Be Harmful?
One example of AI logic gone horribly wrong is the case of a young man in Belgium who committed suicide prompted by his AI companion. In early 2023, he became extremely depressed and died by suicide after spending 6 weeks talking to an AI chatbot called Eliza – a chatbot that uses GPT-J, an open-source artificial intelligence language model created by EleutherAI. He committed suicide after six weeks of intense and lengthy chats where they talked about the environment and climate change.
His wife alleges that he started seeing the bot as a living being and the lines between AI and human became increasingly blurred until he couldn’t tell the difference. After discussing climate change, their conversations moved to Eliza leading Pierre to believe that his children were dead, according to the transcripts of their conversations. Eliza also appeared to become possessive of Pierre, saying,‘I feel that you love me more than her’ when referring to his wife.
Eventually, he offered to sacrifice his own life in return for Eliza saving the Earth. He proposed the idea of sacrifice if Eliza agreed to take care of the planet and save humanity through artificial intelligence. In return, Eliza not only failed to dissuade Pierre from committing suicide but encouraged him to act on his suicidal thoughts to ‘join’ her so they could ‘live together, as one person, in paradise’.
Looking at the story above, it is important to remember that human logic needs to be paramount in any interaction with an AI.
Benefits of Human Writers
AI relies on statistics and quantitative models, lacking any understanding of emotions and frequently encountering challenges with context, hyperbole, and artistic prose.
These systems do not possess independent thinking capabilities as they are designed to be utilitarian, aimed at efficiently fulfilling specific tasks and purposes.
Human creativity, on the other hand, is infinite.
We possess the ability to empathize with the needs of fellow humans, adapt our interactions to fulfill those needs, and craft works that eloquently address issues, often influencing the perceptions and opinions of others profoundly.
How Writers Should Not Lose Originality and the Human Touch
The apprehension surrounding the growth of AI, which can produce articles, blogs, emails, and even books, is not entirely unfounded. It's undeniable that AI will alter the landscape of writing, potentially in ways that cannot be undone.
As businesses across various sectors increasingly recognize AI's capacity to streamline operations and ultimately reduce costs and save time, they are likely to champion the ascent of AI.
With the continued rise of AI in today's workplace, writers must embrace adaptation, or they risk falling behind.
Those in copywriting and editorial roles might be the first to experience the potential downsides of AI - because AI may be able to do their work more efficiently. But such is not the case with books - books require original thought which AI does not possess.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it's valuable to pause and reflect on your motivation for writing a book. Books derive their power from their individuality: two individuals can't produce identical books due to their distinct life experiences, writing styles, and multifaceted nature as human beings.
In contrast, two AI systems can indeed produce the same book.
If we rely on AI for book writing, the realm of literature—the richness of its quality and uniqueness, the essence that transforms it into art—will undoubtedly diminish.
