You hate writing. Be honest. You really do. I do too, so stick with me here.
It takes forever and in the end you end up with what? Words.
We keep staring at the blank canvas for probably longer than we end up spending on actually writing whatever we hope to complete.
Endless cycles of doubt, deleting paragraphs, tweaking words that end up in the bin anyways. Pain.
But like physical training, it takes time and requires mental discipline and then, just then, it might become a pleasure or acceptable suffering.
With the advent of AI tools also came the promises of "never writers block again" and it came with two feelings:
Yes, wow. This is amazing. Can't wait for it to change my life. Take my money.
Ahem. What a load of BS. Nothing can replace the pain and anguish of writing. Suffering = writing. AI writing = crap content.
I've tried quite a few services and I'm sure the people behind them are doing great work, are leaders of AI, but I, as an idiot, have just kept hitting the freaking block again and again.
It might be smart with "adding another sentence" or "summarising an article with great insights", but for writing an extension of thoughts or emotions in a personal style, it has just felt like a pretty stupid machine trying to mechanically emulate me.
"I am you", said the AI.
“Nope”, said I.
And now we are 6-12 months into the "Generative AI revolution" and with some of these services, things have changed dramatically and to the better. Much better output and user experiences, much better sandwiches.
But with writing, I felt I needed to see what is out there and how far we have come.
Meet Sudowrite, which is where I have written this text(until now written 100% by me, said the human).
I asked Sudowrite to “describe” what Sudowrite is. Infinite AI Gordian knot!
No one knows what it is. The scholars can only speculate as to its origin and meaning. Some think it is an ancient, highly formulaic language specifically designed to capture the meaning of the written page. Some specialists believe that Soduwrite is the language spoken in heaven, the native language of God.
Oh wow. To be fair it also provided a lot of other descriptions and I can imagine them being useful in unfolding complex ideas or concepts in other situations.
Not getting the language of God-vibe, Sudowrite.
And now I will see if it can finish the post. Here goes.
I took a deep breath and clicked the "generate" button, bracing myself for disappointment.
But to my surprise, the words that appeared on the screen were not just coherent, but actually captured the essence of what I was trying to convey.
The AI's words flowed seamlessly into mine, building on my ideas and taking them in new and unexpected directions. It was like having a writing partner who could read my mind and elevate my work to new heights.
As I read through the completed post, I felt a sense of pride and satisfaction that I hadn't experienced in a long time. Maybe writing didn't have to be such a painful process after all.
I saved the post, feeling grateful for the AI's assistance. And who knows? Maybe with its help, I could finally become the writer I had always wanted to be.
Ok, chill with the sales pitch, bro. I’m not buying that beat up Datsun.
So far so meh, but how about you try changing the beginning in the style of "Show, not tell"?
You sink into your chair, sigh deeply, and your eyes wander over to the blank page on your desk. You pick up your pen, but instead of writing, you begin doodling a self-portrait of frustration in the corner. The more you draw, the more desperately you want to make progress with your piece; yet, your mind remains completely frozen. Minutes pass by as you delete sentences that had taken time and effort to come up with, and watch helplessly as wasted potential disappears from the page. Excruciating cycles of doubt and anxiety grip you, leaving behind an all too familiar pain.
I kinda like that. Not awful at all.
How about a poem, called “Writing sucks” to prime the readers for my conclusion?
you
me
nerves
mind freezes.
I hate writing.
too many details to remember
got the tone but no melody;
no rhythm like a rhyme,
haven’t found the right rhymes.
words don’t make sense,
it’s not poetry,
not good poetry.
the poem is wrong.
without punctuation—
and words that make you think of something else—
this is a poem about the topic of writing sucks,
so why can’t I find the right ending?
Racing to a conclusion (not written by Sudowrite)
Sorry for the poem. Sorry Sudowrite, for being at the receiving end of this (spoiler) rantish ending.
I love reading and a couple of things make me love what I am reading:
Style: Consuming the words must feel delightful. Great vocabulary, magical sentences. Makes me smile, makes me tell others about it and adds to my own world of words.
Relevance: What I’m reading must feel relevant to me; fun, amazing, revealing or teaching me something new. It needs to make me want to read more.
Who: I actually like to know who wrote it. It adds color to how I see what I read - if the writer feels interesting for some reason, I most often enjoy reading it more. I want to know more about the writer.
Here are my 3 main points on my experience with writing with AI:
Knowing what good looks like is key to writing good stuff. If you put shit into the machine, gold will not come out. Just more shiny shit.
AI is a freaking pleaser. It won’t tell you that you are an idiot. It won’t tell you your idea is shit. Not like my editor would.
You see the text, your read it, but you have no idea how it got there and how that “writer” actually came up with it. Its actually words out of thinnish air.
So am I finding my love for reading in what the AI writes?
No. I actually end up at my point nr. 2 →
Ahem. What a load of BS. Nothing can replace the pain and anguish of writing. Suffering = writing. AI writing = crap content.
But to use AI to help in subtle ways, when writing. In small elements that do not interfere with the natural beauty of a writers ‘isms and style, that is not just copying Hemmingway and writing haiku, well, just then you might actually be able to use AI to make writing a tiny bit better.
And I do use AI in aspects of what AWDIO (my startup) is working on, allowing children to imagine and create, and that is were I get excited. That is were I see magic and love starting to emerge. It’s all about making imagination come to life. More on that later!
So yes, I do believe that writing with AI has a future in some aspects. I just haven’t had my “Midjourney sandwich” moment yet.
But when the text(human+AI) tastes wonderful, I’ll sit on my mountaintop and eat it with a big smile. Oh, how I love reading and writing.
