aside_dish
Member
You often hear writers lament about the increasing use of AI slop in writing circles, and how you can tell immediately that something is generated by AI and it degrades the quality of writing. And I agree it’s a problem. It completely takes the human element out of storytelling – which is something robots will never be able to truly replicate.
However, I’m not entirely convinced that people can actually tell something is written by AI – and I believe it often leads to people lofting false accusations at their fellow redditors (many of whom just paid attention in English class and learned to love use of the em dash [and, in my case, the en dash]).
Take these two passages, for example. One is written by AI, while the other is written by a human:
Can you tell which of these two is AI? What if I told you they both were?
Or how about these two passages?
Is it the first or the second?
If you guessed the first, you’re wrong! The second may read more human-like, but it’s AI-generated!
But actually, it’s the second.
Or both. Yeah, it’s both.
Another pair:
Did you guess that both of those were AI?
Because they’re not
— at least if you meant something else other than Artificial Intelligence. If that is what you meant, then it is.
But actually, all of this is AI. Every. Single. Passage. Not a single one was human-made. Varying quality, varying sentence structure and verbiage, and yet it’s all AI, and you likely couldn’t even tell.
Did you read the bold above and felt vindicated? Because here’s a video of me writing all of this live, using a random word generator to get started on these passages. Perhaps not the best examples — and indication of my own lack of writing ability perhaps — but I’m pretty confident none of you guessed that none of this was generated at all.
And I think that brings about the point that I started with: you can’t always tell. Everyone is so quick to say something is written by AI, when it’s not always so clear cut. So, before you go leveling accusations, ask yourself if this person used AI, or if they’re just a competent writer?
Probably the latter. But maybe not! And the fact that it's becoming increasingly harder to tell makes it all the more necessary to do your due diligence, and ensure that you're not falsely accusing people.
However, I’m not entirely convinced that people can actually tell something is written by AI – and I believe it often leads to people lofting false accusations at their fellow redditors (many of whom just paid attention in English class and learned to love use of the em dash [and, in my case, the en dash]).
Take these two passages, for example. One is written by AI, while the other is written by a human:
- Grayson Mudjoy was about as happy as a man could be in his situation — swell, even. And that wasn’t a figure of speech, it was literal. He’d recently rolled his ankle, which wasn’t nearly as fun as what he normally rolled, which was joints. Well, I guess the ankle is a joint.
- Ser Adavan was taken aback by what had just transpired in the throne room only moments ago. “Take ‘em to a’back of the room, and throw ‘em in the dungeons!” the king had shouted. Ser Adavan was absolutely boned.
Can you tell which of these two is AI? What if I told you they both were?
Or how about these two passages?
- Yara loved the way her kitten, Miles, laid down in his cat tree, tail tucked and paws curled. She always looked forward to it when coming out of her bedroom in the morning, and it’s what she found solace in when the would give him a kiss goodnight as she went back into the bedroom at night. Simply put: Miles was absolutely purrfect.
- Mark strode confidently through the hallways of Newman High. He was a football player, and football players were like the kings of the school at Newman. But kingdoms only had one king, and since Mark was the captain of the team, he was the king among kings.
Is it the first or the second?
If you guessed the first, you’re wrong! The second may read more human-like, but it’s AI-generated!
But actually, it’s the second.
Or both. Yeah, it’s both.
Another pair:
- Questions were like shitty music opinions in that every hipster with an eyebrow ring and a Bad Religion tattoo had about thirty of them. And the questions were usually shittier and more pointless than the music opinions and tattoos.
- Jane only had thirteen minutes to be at work, and the next bus wasn’t scheduled for another fifteen. She wished she could say this was the first time — or the fifth. Or the twelfth. But the truth was, Jane was habitually late — and that was exactly what would save her on this Thursday.
Did you guess that both of those were AI?
Because they’re not
— at least if you meant something else other than Artificial Intelligence. If that is what you meant, then it is.
But actually, all of this is AI. Every. Single. Passage. Not a single one was human-made. Varying quality, varying sentence structure and verbiage, and yet it’s all AI, and you likely couldn’t even tell.
Did you read the bold above and felt vindicated? Because here’s a video of me writing all of this live, using a random word generator to get started on these passages. Perhaps not the best examples — and indication of my own lack of writing ability perhaps — but I’m pretty confident none of you guessed that none of this was generated at all.
And I think that brings about the point that I started with: you can’t always tell. Everyone is so quick to say something is written by AI, when it’s not always so clear cut. So, before you go leveling accusations, ask yourself if this person used AI, or if they’re just a competent writer?
Probably the latter. But maybe not! And the fact that it's becoming increasingly harder to tell makes it all the more necessary to do your due diligence, and ensure that you're not falsely accusing people.
