First Time Out With AI-Assisted Writing
I used AI to rewrite my story. Result: mind-blowing, but flawed.
I finished my 5 years of secondary school in the early 1980s.
Midway through the five-year program, students were introduced to the fundamental science subjects—Physics, Chemistry, and Biology—along with other disciplines.
Mathematics and English were compulsory for all students.
On the day I wrote my first Physics exam, one of my classmates (a lady) asked me to explain some questions to her. I did. Simple.
We entered the exam hall, only for me to discover that the questions I had helped my classmate with were the ones that came out in that test.
I scored 100% — the highest in that course. My science-averse classmate barely scraped through. She failed the subject.
My classmates thought I was a Physics genius, another Albert Einstein in the making.
I wasn’t, and I knew it.
I believe that what sets me (and my close science pals) apart is my capacity to persist in whichever subject I like and set my heart on.
Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
~ Thomas Edison
In pursuit of my “writing better” goal, I’ve read several books, blog posts, and Medium stories covering the subject of writing. I’ve also taken all the outstanding online writing courses offered by Coursera for which I’m ever indebted for their generous scholarships.
Not until now, I only used AI to create images for some of my stories. Whenever I can’t find a fitting picture (from Unsplash), Microsoft CoPilot has often been at hand for my rescue.
AI writing? No, not for me.
Not until yesterday.
AI assisted writing? Not for me and I even wrote a Medium story vowing never to join the bandwagon. At least, not on a wholesale scale. However, what you don’t know, you don’t know (sic). You must be willing to explore and try out new tools. Otherwise, you will soon experience a checkmate in your progress.
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.
~ Alvin Toffler
Lacking fundamental preparation, learning, and development from the basics of writing, relying entirely on AI-assisted writing could erode any existing writing skills one might possess.
Finding your passion is massively overrated. Your passion won’t make a difference without:
Grit
Effort
Energy
Courage
Consistency.
Fast-forward to now, my secondary school's moment of glory highlighted my initial experience with using AI to assist my writing.
5 Lessons from using AI to redo my work
Used alone, AI-generated stories will always lack creativity and originality. Notion AI properly structured and outlined my first draft. Do I like the output? Yes, and No. Yes because the output was perfect (or almost). No, because the humanity of my writing was obliterated.
Notion AI made my first draft perfect and (almost) ready to publish. But who needs or ever writes WordPerfect first drafts? AI-generated text often lacks context and is bereft of human touch and nuances.
In my view, many of the stories encountered on Medium seem to be generated by AI. I’ve always known this. With my imperfect human story now polished into a flawless AI narrative, my detector for fake and AI-generated stories is now more finely tuned. The first giveaway sign is perfect English. I immediately saw how AI made my writing almost perfect. I liked it and then I didn’t like it.
The absence of human flaws and passion are immediately evident to astute readers. Even if it's not always tangible, you soon realize that something about the story isn't quite right, despite its apparent perfection. How and why? It lacks a human spirit and touch.
While AI can create flawless stories, it won't improve your writing skills. Use it with caution. My classmate flunked our first Physics exam even though she saw an “expo”. Without investing time in enhancing your writing abilities, relying on AI-assisted writing may impede your development as a writer. Just as helplessly, a student who hasn't passed Arithmetic will fail introductory high school Calculus.
Because taking shortcuts doesn’t always work for all of life’s chores. Writing is one of them.
Things that look like shortcuts are actually detours (disguised as less work).
~Seth Godin
Nowadays, most writers, if not all, utilize AI more subtly.
Using tools like Grammarly, Pro Writing Aid, or the Hemingway app for writing means you are utilizing AI technology.
Yes, I do, I do, I do.
Always keep in mind the story of my classmate who failed because she did not prepare for our first Physics examination.
Most mornings, upon waking up, my first action is to open Notion, which is my preferred app for starting the day. Recently, I've found another reason to use it even more — Notion AI.
Thank you for reading. Share your insights on how you use AI tools in your writing.
This story was originally published by the author on Medium.