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An author talks about how he uses AI
Thread poster: Philip Lees
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 20:42
Greek to English
Aug 8, 2023

As a data point in our ongoing discussions of how artificial intelligence and large language models are affecting the creative professions, here is a published author talking about how he uses AI (including ChatGPT) in his work.

I found the whole conversation interesting, but if you want to skip to the AI part, it starts at time 13:45.


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 19:42
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Very disorganized answers Aug 8, 2023

Really difficult to listen to in radio format, long sentences, no head and no tail. Somebody who doesn’t know what Midjourney is will have no idea what he is talking about. To be listener friendly, sentences and presentations in radio/video format should be compact with short sentences.

But basically he is using it for some sort of brainstorming. Like an imagination assistant.

The presenter: But you can find all this online/on Google too.
The author: Yes, but
... See more
Really difficult to listen to in radio format, long sentences, no head and no tail. Somebody who doesn’t know what Midjourney is will have no idea what he is talking about. To be listener friendly, sentences and presentations in radio/video format should be compact with short sentences.

But basically he is using it for some sort of brainstorming. Like an imagination assistant.

The presenter: But you can find all this online/on Google too.
The author: Yes, but it’s easier this way.

It’s easier because he had been paid by GPT to promote them.
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Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Lazy Aug 8, 2023

Lingua 5B wrote:
It’s easier because he had been paid by GPT to promote them.

I didn’t find it at all hard to understand, and I didn’t hear anybody say that.

Either way, it’s just cheating. Authors should use their own imagination, just as we should. Everyone is becoming lazy. It’s like authors getting ghost writers. I don’t care if the end-product is better. Stop being so lazy and/or greedy.


Daryo
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:42
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
No, it genuinely is easier Aug 8, 2023

Lingua 5B wrote:
The presenter: But you can find all this online/on Google too.
The author: Yes, but it’s easier this way.
It’s easier because he had been paid by GPT to promote them.

I disagree. Chat GPT does give one information a lot quicker than a Google search might, because with a Google search you have to click the individual links to find articles about the topic and then you have to skim read through all those articles to find these hidden gems of information that Chat GPT gives you in the very first sentence. It's less precise but it's faster, especially if you're okay with a general answer.

Compare the first hit on Google (Wikipedia) to Chat GPT's answer for "elephanta caves":

wikipedia elephanta

chat elephanta

Lingua 5B wrote:
...he had been paid by GPT to promote them.

I was unable to track down any evidence to support that allegation. Can you tell us where you get that information from?

[Edited at 2023-08-08 07:59 GMT]


Philip Lees
Thomas T. Frost
Lieven Malaise
 
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 20:42
Greek to English
TOPIC STARTER
Brainstorming Aug 8, 2023

Lingua 5B wrote:

But basically he is using it for some sort of brainstorming. Like an imagination assistant.

Yes, that's it. I have a box on my bookcase called "The Bright Idea Deck", which is basically the same idea, but using old technology.


The presenter: But you can find all this online/on Google too.
The author: Yes, but it’s easier this way.

It’s easier because he had been paid by GPT to promote them.

Do you have evidence to support that statement?

Disclaimer: I have not been paid anything by GPT.


Thomas T. Frost
Lieven Malaise
 
Zea_Mays
Zea_Mays  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 19:42
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Reliability? Aug 8, 2023

Samuel Murray wrote:

Chat GPT does give one information a lot quicker than a Google search might, because with a Google search you have to click the individual links to find articles about the topic and then you have to skim read through all those articles to find these hidden gems of information that Chat GPT gives you in the very first sentence.

How do you assess if GPT's answers are correct?


Kay Denney
polishedwords
Daryo
 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:42
Danish to English
+ ...
Normal conversation Aug 8, 2023

Lingua 5B wrote:

Really difficult to listen to in radio format, long sentences, no head and no tail. Somebody who doesn’t know what Midjourney is will have no idea what he is talking about. To be listener friendly, sentences and presentations in radio/video format should be compact with short sentences.

But basically he is using it for some sort of brainstorming. Like an imagination assistant.

The presenter: But you can find all this online/on Google too.
The author: Yes, but it’s easier this way.

It’s easier because he had been paid by GPT to promote them.


It's a normal conversation. I didn't find anything wrong with it. It's not a children's programme.

It is explained twice that Midjourney is an AI tool, the second time that it creates images.

Yes, it is easier to find information with AI such as Bard (connected to the internet) and ChatGPT (not connected), as others have explained. Google and other traditional search engines don't understand context, so you sometimes drown in unrelated hits. AI is able to sift through all that for you and give you a more targeted answer.

I find it quite preposterous to state as a fact that he has been paid to say that. Not everything is a conspiration. I certainly am not paid.

But AI is no miracle tool and its suggestions may or may not be useful. It often gets facts wrong, just as MT often gets something wrong. They are tools to use wisely, but wise they are not. The 'I' in AI doesn't mean they can think.


Philip Lees
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:42
French to English
. Aug 8, 2023

Quite frankly, I prefer the Wiki entry to the AI generated text.

- Wikipedia always sticks to the same kind of format, so you know where you'll find exactly what you're looking for.
- It's easy to jump to the salient paragraph thanks to links.
- There are links to definitions of important terms or giving more information on the concepts mentioned.
- There are pictures and diagrams where useful.
- Wikipedia is known for its reliability, and if ever you're
... See more
Quite frankly, I prefer the Wiki entry to the AI generated text.

- Wikipedia always sticks to the same kind of format, so you know where you'll find exactly what you're looking for.
- It's easy to jump to the salient paragraph thanks to links.
- There are links to definitions of important terms or giving more information on the concepts mentioned.
- There are pictures and diagrams where useful.
- Wikipedia is known for its reliability, and if ever you're not sure of anything in the article, you get the bibliography at the end with links to show where the info comes from.
- There's far more information in the Wikipedia entry. While you might not need that much, it does help to fill in gaps when you don't know what you don't know.

The AI text is easier to read, like a fairy story.
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Anton Konashenok
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 19:42
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
. Aug 8, 2023

Zea_Mays wrote:
How do you assess if GPT's answers are correct?


You doublecheck, like you would do with the results of any conventional internet seach. It's the first part that saves you time: finding hits that might be relevant/interesting. It's not rocket science.


Thomas T. Frost
Philip Lees
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:42
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Zea Aug 8, 2023

Zea_Mays wrote:
How do you assess if GPT's answers are correct?

Well, validating ChatGPT's information is different from validating a Google search's information, that's true. With a Google search, I'd look at things like whether the website seems authoritative (i.e. are there any warning flags about the page). With ChatGPT, I'd do a Google search. The value of Chat GPT's answers is that they are often more relevant and targeted, even if you can't trust the information blindly.


Thomas T. Frost
Philip Lees
 
Zea_Mays
Zea_Mays  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 19:42
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
The point is Aug 8, 2023

AI is useful for people who already have a clue (as well as for coders). For them it is a really good brainstorming tool.

I am curious when the copyright infringement issue will become hot.
Then these tools (free and perhaps also paid versions) will disappear or at least be restricted.


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 19:42
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Yes Aug 8, 2023

Philip Lees wrote:

Lingua 5B wrote:

But basically he is using it for some sort of brainstorming. Like an imagination assistant.

Yes, that's it. I have a box on my bookcase called "The Bright Idea Deck", which is basically the same idea, but using old technology.


The presenter: But you can find all this online/on Google too.
The author: Yes, but it’s easier this way.

It’s easier because he had been paid by GPT to promote them.

Do you have evidence to support that statement?

Disclaimer: I have not been paid anything by GPT.


Media and podcasts are always sponsored, just common knowledge.

[Edited at 2023-08-08 16:06 GMT]


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 19:42
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
I know coders Aug 8, 2023

Zea_Mays wrote:

AI is useful for people who already have a clue (as well as for coders). For them it is a really good brainstorming tool.

I am curious when the copyright infringement issue will become hot.
Then these tools (free and perhaps also paid versions) will disappear or at least be restricted.


Some experienced coders told me it was of minimal help. It requires extensive reworking and tweaking.

Historians: Shakespeare had extraordinary imagination.
Today’s writers: I generate my imagination in MJ, not in my mind. No poetic images in my mind, they have to be on screen.

What kind of writer is this?

[Edited at 2023-08-08 16:11 GMT]


 
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 20:42
Greek to English
TOPIC STARTER
Comprehension Aug 9, 2023

Lingua 5B wrote:

Today’s writers: I generate my imagination in MJ, not in my mind. No poetic images in my mind, they have to be on screen.

What kind of writer is this?

As you made clear in your first response, you had difficulty understanding the interview. Perhaps that explains this comment, as it appears to be completely unrelated to what the author was saying in that BBC programme.


Lieven Malaise
 
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 20:42
Greek to English
TOPIC STARTER
Aids to the imagination Aug 9, 2023

Ice Scream wrote:

Authors should use their own imagination, just as we should. Everyone is becoming lazy. It’s like authors getting ghost writers. I don’t care if the end-product is better. Stop being so lazy and/or greedy.

Sorry, Chris, but I think this is just silly. Aids or prompts to the imagination have been around for probably as long as human writers have. From the time when I was writing a lot of fiction (about 20 years ago) I remember several such aids that were recommended in writing seminars (and not just by those marketing them) as a way of getting past blocks.

Edward de Bono, who invented the term "lateral thinking", said that when he was stuck for an idea he would just visit Woolworth's, where he would wander around until he saw something that gave him an idea. It usually didn't take very long.

Other writers have talked about the value of going for a walk, or just staring out of the window, as a way of getting a random stimulus to break an unproductive chain of thought.

The author in the BBC interview seems to be using ChatGPT and other aids in exactly the same way, and I see nothing at all wrong with that.


Lieven Malaise
Thomas T. Frost
 
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An author talks about how he uses AI







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