AI for Writing

In keeping with my “let robots do the dishes so I can make art” philosophy, AI has written none of my sentences. I did use it heavily as a critic to help catch not only typos but inconsistencies in tone or missed beats. It’s very good at detecting patterns and breakages of them.

There’s a great article by L.M. Sacasas about how AI assistance for writing is categorically different from spelling or grammar checking. Writing to communicate your thoughts is not transcription. It’s thinking that adds the use of instruments outside the skull to the one within. Moreover, when you write, you not only convey what you think, you re-evaluate it. And sometimes you change your mind. A thought that was laid down a few years ago that you act on habitually reflects the light differently when you take it out anew with all the experiences you’ve had since then.

AI is a fantastic tool for keeping you honest and diligent in your choice of language. You absolutely don’t need to respond to its observations. When you diverge you do it for a reason. You know why.