AI Take over Writing? Not a Chance!

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AI Take over Writing-Not a Chance!

 

To all the writers bemoaning their fate, fearing the imminent takeover of their jobs by AI, my sincere advice is to "Stop the whining and start writing!" AI as it exists today is too dumb to even attempt to replace writers. I am also willing to go out on a limb to say that it never can-no matter how much it evolves. A technology that requires us to prompt it, and turns to content already created by us to regurgitate what we created cannot even begin to replace us. It makes no sense.

AI is not a life form that will try and supplant us. I am not too sure that it will ever be in competition with us for the control of planet Earth and its resources, even if we teach it to think autonomously one day. Parents train their children to be autonomous of them, yet they never really do, even with all the freedom they have. Do you think that mankind with its programmed proclivity to be self-centred, manipulative and primed to survive at all costs will ever let that happen?

The great sci-fi writer Arthur C Clarke believed that the day is not far when mechanical life will replace organic life and not only should we not resist it, we should probably look at it as something evolutionary that was bound to happen. He likened it to the Homo Sapiens wiping out the Neanderthals. Again bunkum! AI is nothing but another tool made by clever mankind, something it has been doing for hundreds and thousands of years.

AI has as little chance of destroying the very human proclivity to write as the automobile has of destroying our ability to walk or a boat has of doing away with our ability to swim. As long as there is mankind, it will always have the urge to create something, and AI is not going to stop us from doing that. It can at best only follow our lead and try to second-guess what we might be thinking. It needs to pick our brains and not otherwise. So, buckle up and keep writing.

How to show empathy in your writing?

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Writers are always advised to display empathy in their writing if they are to have any chance of connecting with their intended audience. While this is almost a truism, and certainly a valid prerequisite for someone hoping to make a success of their writing, the fact of the matter is that you cannot display empathy; you have got to possess it. The only way to do that is to be empathetic towards yourself first.  Write something that resonates with you, and there is a chance that what you come up with will resonate with your fellow humans out there.

If you approach your writing solely with the intent of addressing the needs of your "target audience", you will almost certainly never get it right. That is because you are not "them" and will never be. You are 100% you. Well almost- for it is not possible to know yourself fully! If you begin to understand what it is that works for you, there is a great chance of what you write working with others as well. What connects us all is our common humanity and you can always bank on it.

If you are planning on writing a great book, write something that moves you and makes you react in a certain way when you read what you have written.  If it moves you on a primeval level, then you are doing all right, and you can send it out to the world and see how they take to it. Honesty with your own self is the best way to ensure what you write is perceived as empathetic to others. You try and manufacture that empathy, and your writing will come across as fake, insincere and pretentious.

What you can do to pull a potential reader to your writing, however, is to use a lot of sensory details that paint a vivid picture that a human being can relate to. If you are writing about your sipping on a cup of coffee, you could conjure an interesting image by also mentioning you are doing so watching the rain fall gently on the palm tree outside your window. This will work better if that is actually happening, or at least there is a palm tree that you can see from your window, which you can then visualise being washed by rain while you drink coffee!

Your own experiences of life are your true coach and mentor. Turn to them when you need to write something truly inspirational. There is a far greater chance of your readers seeing the truth of what you have experienced yourself, than anything you think your readers would like to read.