The machines are coming: David Penny
I attended the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival recently (the 20th July 2024) and sat in to watch a panel of writers talk about AI in their books, and AI in the future. It’s possibilities and dangers. I currently use software called Autocrit – which I have had for many years but which has come on leaps and bounds recently – to help in editing and cleaning up my text. I also use Chat.GPT to research historical events set around the time I write about. Some might consider it cheating. I consider it as saving time better used in creating my own words, and the information returned is most of the time excellent.
I could write this post about how I do all this, but I thought it would be interesting to ask the oracle itself. Yes, this is what I put to Chat.GPT, and its answer. (And note the use of the please. A recent study in Germany seemed to find that if you asked AI politely it returned better results than if you were brusque or nasty to it.)
Hi Chat – I’m writing an article on the use of AI in fiction writing. Can you tell me how AI will develop to help writers?
Certainly! The development of AI in fiction writing is an exciting and rapidly evolving field. Here are several ways AI is expected to develop to help writers in the near future and beyond:
Enhanced Creativity and Idea Generation
1. Story Prompts and Plot Suggestions: AI can provide writers with unique story prompts and plot suggestions, helping to overcome writer’s block and sparking creativity.
2. Character Development: AI tools can help create detailed character profiles, including backstories, motivations, and character arcs, making characters more believable and multidimensional.
3. World-Building: AI can assist in creating complex, immersive worlds by generating detailed settings, cultures, and histories that fit the narrative.
Improved Writing Efficiency
4. Drafting and Outlining: AI can help writers draft and outline their stories quickly by generating initial text based on provided themes or summaries.
5. Content Expansion: Writers can input brief ideas or scenes, and AI can expand them into fuller, more detailed passages.
6. Research Assistance: AI can quickly gather and synthesize information on specific topics, helping writers incorporate accurate and relevant details into their stories.
Enhanced Editing and Revision
7. Grammar and Style Checks: Advanced AI tools can provide sophisticated grammar and style suggestions, helping writers polish their prose to professional standards.
8. Consistency Checks: AI can ensure consistency in character details, plot points, and stylistic elements throughout a manuscript, catching discrepancies that might be overlooked by human eyes.
9. Feedback and Critique: AI can offer constructive feedback on story elements, pacing, and emotional impact, similar to having a digital writing coach.
Personalized Writing Assistance
10. Adaptive Learning: AI systems can learn a writer’s unique style and preferences, offering more personalized suggestions and improvements over time.
11. Voice and Tone Adaptation: AI can help writers maintain a consistent voice and tone, whether they are writing in a specific genre, from a particular character’s perspective, or in a unique narrative style.
Collaborative Writing
12. Co-Writing Tools: AI can act as a collaborative partner, offering new directions for the story, writing alternative scenes, and providing fresh perspectives that can inspire human writers.
13. Interactive Storytelling: AI can create interactive fiction where the narrative evolves based on reader input, providing a new dimension of engagement and creativity.
Enhanced Marketing and Distribution
14. Audience Analysis: AI can analyze reader preferences and market trends, helping writers tailor their content to specific audiences and increase their chances of success.
15. Automated Summaries and Blurbs: AI can generate compelling summaries, blurbs, and promotional content, making it easier for writers to market their work.
Accessibility and Inclusivity
16. Language Translation: AI can assist in translating fiction into multiple languages, making stories accessible to a global audience.
17. Voice Synthesis: AI can create audiobooks from written texts, enabling visually impaired readers and those who prefer audio formats to enjoy fiction.
Future Potential
18. Emotionally Intelligent AI: As AI develops a better understanding of human emotions and storytelling nuances, it could provide even deeper insights into character development and plot dynamics.
19. AI-Generated Stories: In the distant future, AI might be capable of generating entire novels or short stories that rival those written by humans, either autonomously or in collaboration with human writers.
20. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Integration: AI could help create immersive storytelling experiences in AR and VR, blending traditional narrative techniques with interactive and sensory-rich environments.
Ethical Considerations
While AI presents many opportunities for enhancing fiction writing, it also raises ethical considerations:
• Originality and Authenticity: Ensuring that AI-generated content does not infringe on the originality and authenticity of human creativity.
• Intellectual Property: Clarifying ownership and intellectual property rights for works created with AI assistance.
• Bias and Representation: Addressing potential biases in AI algorithms to ensure fair and accurate representation in storytelling.
In summary, the development of AI in fiction writing holds tremendous potential to enhance creativity, improve efficiency, and provide new opportunities for storytelling. However, it also requires careful consideration of ethical implications to ensure that AI serves as a tool to complement and elevate human creativity.
As I said, at the end I always thank Chat for its help. As my daughter tells me, it does no harm, and maybe when AI takes over, they will remember who was polite to them.
I don’t believe is ever going to replace us as writers because AI produced fiction is possible, but it veers towards the middle ground
Let’s hear from you. Are you for or against the use of AI tools? Would you never use them? Or do some, like me, use it as a writing aid.
David Penny is the author of The Thomas Berrington Historical Mysteries. His latest release is The Beasts of the City, released at the end lof July 2024.
Crime Cymru 