AI: Threat to Writers?

 A sprawling article in The New Republic questions whether the coming of artificial intelligence (AI) spells the end for human writers. (TNR) 

“If a computer can write like a person, what does that say about the nature of our own creativity?” asks Samanth Subramanian.

The answer is, after a long winding trail of considerations, that nobody can yet say for sure, at least according to this author. But he seems to come out on the side of the human writer surviving in the end, and with that I agree.

The key word in this equation is “human.” In our society, human writers do much more than simply write. They invent and provoke and stimulate and define. They give voice to voiceless as well as to the unspeakable. They create the public narratives that help define both our social and private lives.

In fiction and nonfiction alike, they express the inner longings of the human spirit, which machines may emulate but cannot replicate.

Like artists of all kinds, writers’ work can be copied — we call it plagiarism — but as creators they cannot be replaced. AI may take away many of the jobs writers have; if so that will be a tragedy. But the writers will remain.

Writing is so much more than turning a phrase, word-smithing or even telling a story. Fundamentally, it’s about forging authentic human connections one at a time.

That will always be superior to the artificial connections enacted by machines.

And only a human being can tell the difference.

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