What is the right role for AI?

 

My fellow writers in the Speculative Fiction Writers Group are so thoughtful. Right now, many of us are upset, thinking about the news that Harper Collins will start giving its human authors' work product to AI, in order to develop the ability of AI to write its own fiction.

There are so many ways to think about this:

On the 'pro' side, There are so many examples of tech replacing humans: In farming we have tractors and huge combines now, not rows of serfs. In weaving we have automated looms, not teams of weavers. In the kitchen we have food processors, not six sous chefs.

Yet this 'let's replace writers' push is so worrying. Is that because we writers want to write and don't want to be replaced? Should the rule be "use AI only where humans want the AI?' In which case, who gets to decide?

I think the main arguments against using AI to write creative fiction is this: AI should be a tool that assists humans, not a replacement for humans unless the humans in those roles want to be replaced.

I'm writing, repeatedly now, about hyper-intelligent AI in androids, because it raises so many fascinating issues. Maybe we are inventing our own replacements--the stupidest thing a sentient species can do. Or maybe this is much ado about nothing, if AI truly cannot create anything, but only mimic? Maybe all we need to do is make sure publishers can't ship our work off to AI, in our contracts with publishers.

Maybe, if 'creativity' is our special sauce, we all need to work harder to instill true creativity in our work. I just wrote an upcoming blog post for my writers group about that!

(Photo credit: Anime Waifu--that is a very impressive creation! Though we can't tell by looking if it was made by a human.)





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