4 ms·

Saying “AI writing lacks character” is like saying typewriters can’t produce an authentic letter, only a handwritten letter can be authentic. I’m sure people we

Saying “AI writing lacks character” is like saying typewriters can’t produce an authentic letter, only a handwritten letter can be authentic. I’m sure people were having this debate when typewriters became commonplace. AI can take on any writing style of any character you desire. It can be extremely vibrant. It can be cold and calculating. It can produce beautiful prose. You can train it on your texts or emails and have it produce something indistinguishable from your own writing style. It’s completely up to the prompting (And the tuning of the model) what output it’s going to produce. The fact that someone was lazy with their use of AI isn’t the AI’s fault.

tsunagatta 2y ago
But, in my view, handwritten letters do feel more authentic than typewritten letters. On the surface it’s only a change to the form of delivery, but that change in form implies extra meaning beyond the content: you see the person in the way they wrote the lines, and the fact that they wrote them. Typewriting sanitizes that extra layer away, but at least you still see the person in the content. If the typewriter then went on to create the content as well as the form, then virtually none of the person would be left.
- MrVandemar 2y ago
  It's strange how these things change context though over time. I would be actually delighted and touched to receive a genuinely type-written letter since I know that actually owning and maintaining and using such archaic equipment is an effort far in excess of hand writing a letter. Yes, it loses the expressiveness of actual hand writing, but I'd be happy that people were still using the cantankerous things.
MrVandemar 2y ago
> Saying “AI writing lacks character” is like saying typewriters can’t produce an authentic letter, only a handwritten letter can be authentic. You're making a flawed comparison there. It boils down to style. Style is a personal thing, it comes from your word-choices and the rhythm of your writing, which results from how you feel, your education and interests, what audience you're trying to reach, your lived experience, whether there's a 3 year old trying to show you that he can eat a bug. Now, of course, a hand-written letter has a greater expressive capacity: you have paper choices, ink or pencil or crayon, your hand-writing either natural or emphasised. A type-writer can't capture that, but the words you type are still a reflection of you. AI makes few of these considerations, and is unable to convincingly emulate them. Strongly recommend you read Don Watson's Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language for a good comparison of the bland paste we get fed by institutions (and AI) and robust writing from the heart meant to persuade or reflect feelings.

tsunagatta 2y ago

But, in my view, handwritten letters do feel more authentic than typewritten letters. On the surface it’s only a change to the form of delivery, but that change in form implies extra meaning beyond the content: you see the person in the way they wrote the lines, and the fact that they wrote them. Typewriting sanitizes that extra layer away, but at least you still see the person in the content. If the typewriter then went on to create the content as well as the form, then virtually none of the person would be left.

MrVandemar 2y ago
It's strange how these things change context though over time. I would be actually delighted and touched to receive a genuinely type-written letter since I know that actually owning and maintaining and using such archaic equipment is an effort far in excess of hand writing a letter. Yes, it loses the expressiveness of actual hand writing, but I'd be happy that people were still using the cantankerous things.

MrVandemar 2y ago

> Saying “AI writing lacks character” is like saying typewriters can’t produce an authentic letter, only a handwritten letter can be authentic. You're making a flawed comparison there. It boils down to style. Style is a personal thing, it comes from your word-choices and the rhythm of your writing, which results from how you feel, your education and interests, what audience you're trying to reach, your lived experience, whether there's a 3 year old trying to show you that he can eat a bug. Now, of course, a hand-written letter has a greater expressive capacity: you have paper choices, ink or pencil or crayon, your hand-writing either natural or emphasised. A type-writer can't capture that, but the words you type are still a reflection of you. AI makes few of these considerations, and is unable to convincingly emulate them. Strongly recommend you read Don Watson's Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language for a good comparison of the bland paste we get fed by institutions (and AI) and robust writing from the heart meant to persuade or reflect feelings.