3 ms·

I wouldn't say safe, but safEST is probably writing. Like creative writing where the narrative is something that spans hundreds or even thousands of pages with

I wouldn't say safe, but safEST is probably writing. Like creative writing where the narrative is something that spans hundreds or even thousands of pages with plot interactions that aren't directly apparent in the text itself. At least until a true AI/HCI is created. Most "AI" things are pretty superficial pattern recognition that are just better at unbiased processing of large "shallow" datasets.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago
Writing is certainly safe at the moment. GPT3 can "write", but it can't write. It doesn't actually understand anything, and therefore it can't write anything that means anything. All it can do is create an appearance of meaning. But the longer you read it, the more you recognize that you don't actually understand it. It literally cannot be understood, because there's no actual content to be understood. All there are is words, with connections between them that are more or less grammatical, and superficial threads that persist for a few paragraphs. It makes for very unsatisfying reading.
- ctopher7 5y ago
  are you GPT3 ?
pjgalbraith 5y ago
As an amateur fiction writer who has experimented with GPT-3 I tend to agree. However AI can definitely play a role in the process, especially around editing. Professional writers have the advantage of professional editors and expert beta readers. I would love a fiction writing companion similar to GitHub copilot that could suggest improvements and refine prose. I think visual artists could benefit from similar tooling. Imagine a comic art tool that can take a pencil drawing and ink it in, or even take a rough sketch and refine the details.
muzani 5y ago
I'm actually working on AI-aided writing. First off, GPT-3 is terrible at plots and all long form writing. That doesn't mean that AI/computers are going to be bad at it. There's an algorithm. Many screenwriters today write based off Aristotle's Poetics or some variation of Hero's Journey. The West Wing is brilliant and deep, but it's also written around an algorithm. We'll probably see some hybrid engines around this. Just like computers have GPUs and CPUs and RAM and HDDs. There will likely be an engine for plot, and another GPT-3 style one for "rendering" that plot. A downside is that it does have a certain "voice". I would say its natural voice is similar to 16 year olds writing fan fiction. If you don't guide it well (and most don't), the outputs will all be similar, and they will sound tacky. And so guiding will matter a lot. I see AI as possibly taking the role of scriptwriter and actor, but a human needs to take the role of a director. Most interpretations today are quite lazy and expect AI to do all the work. I think a form of creative coordination is needed. You still have to put your AI in a situation where they can be inspired. You can't just tell them to write out a full scene of a man confront his adulterous wife. You give them the saucy plotwriting from Patterson, snippets of over the top dialogue from Conan the Cimmerian, and you get some form of artwork. But if you're not a good writer in the first place, you can't actually train AI to write well. Most of the parties interested in AI writing are screenwriters. It's sort of like accountants and engineers jumping after calculators. The machine doesn't obsolete them; it allows them to do more of the thing they wanted to do, and less of the tedious stuff they didn't want to.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago

Writing is certainly safe at the moment. GPT3 can "write", but it can't write. It doesn't actually understand anything, and therefore it can't write anything that means anything. All it can do is create an appearance of meaning. But the longer you read it, the more you recognize that you don't actually understand it. It literally cannot be understood, because there's no actual content to be understood. All there are is words, with connections between them that are more or less grammatical, and superficial threads that persist for a few paragraphs. It makes for very unsatisfying reading.

ctopher7 5y ago
are you GPT3 ?

pjgalbraith 5y ago

As an amateur fiction writer who has experimented with GPT-3 I tend to agree. However AI can definitely play a role in the process, especially around editing. Professional writers have the advantage of professional editors and expert beta readers. I would love a fiction writing companion similar to GitHub copilot that could suggest improvements and refine prose. I think visual artists could benefit from similar tooling. Imagine a comic art tool that can take a pencil drawing and ink it in, or even take a rough sketch and refine the details.

muzani 5y ago

I'm actually working on AI-aided writing. First off, GPT-3 is terrible at plots and all long form writing. That doesn't mean that AI/computers are going to be bad at it. There's an algorithm. Many screenwriters today write based off Aristotle's Poetics or some variation of Hero's Journey. The West Wing is brilliant and deep, but it's also written around an algorithm. We'll probably see some hybrid engines around this. Just like computers have GPUs and CPUs and RAM and HDDs. There will likely be an engine for plot, and another GPT-3 style one for "rendering" that plot. A downside is that it does have a certain "voice". I would say its natural voice is similar to 16 year olds writing fan fiction. If you don't guide it well (and most don't), the outputs will all be similar, and they will sound tacky. And so guiding will matter a lot. I see AI as possibly taking the role of scriptwriter and actor, but a human needs to take the role of a director. Most interpretations today are quite lazy and expect AI to do all the work. I think a form of creative coordination is needed. You still have to put your AI in a situation where they can be inspired. You can't just tell them to write out a full scene of a man confront his adulterous wife. You give them the saucy plotwriting from Patterson, snippets of over the top dialogue from Conan the Cimmerian, and you get some form of artwork. But if you're not a good writer in the first place, you can't actually train AI to write well. Most of the parties interested in AI writing are screenwriters. It's sort of like accountants and engineers jumping after calculators. The machine doesn't obsolete them; it allows them to do more of the thing they wanted to do, and less of the tedious stuff they didn't want to.