The Master's View On ChatGPT and Other AI Writing Tools

Try ChatGPT for yourself. "If nothing else, it can be fun."

- Master Voluminous

Greetings, my acolytes. I am the mighty Master Voluminous. Teacher, commentator and storyteller. It has been a while since we've posted anything, and I apologise for that. It's been an interesting couple of months for us as we've been doing some work in the background that we hope to share with you at some point. For now, I wish to discuss a topic that has held my attention for the last three or four weeks. 

As some of you may be aware, there is currently a writer's strike in Hollywood. Members of the WGA (Writer's Guild of America) have made a number of demands both such as better pay and for more writers to be employed at a time. You may remember a similar strike in 2007/2008 which led to a number of not-so-good films being released. Let it be known that the Master will keep his opinions on the strike, the writers and Hollywood to himself, as he honestly doesn't care. Although, I will express that I find the claims by some news outlets that the future of the writing profession is at stake, to be hilariously absurd.

Let's talk about that though. The future of writing as a profession, because the area of interest regarding this matter is the idea of studios looking for ways to replace the striking writers. One such replacement could be an AI writing tool, such as ChatGPT. I can't say for certain if studios are actually considering this option, but the fear is there. Some are likening it to workers being replaced in manufacturing by automation and other such cases that have been happening for years. I've seen people in a few writing groups that have expressed anxiety with the increasing prominence of AI writing tools, outwrite rejecting it in a similar vein to AI art generators. Regardless of one's own feelings, is the fear valid? Will AI take writing jobs?

For the time being? No. That doesn't mean it can't be a useful tool though.

Most of these "AI" tools such as Inferkit, aren't really AI. They're impressive collections of data and information from years, even centuries past that they are able to regurgitate and rearrange upon request. I read a comment on Facebook that described ChatGPT in particular as a guessing machine. It's really good at guessing which words should follow each other and I agree in regards to creating fiction. I've used other tools like Inferkit and while some of the scenarios it creates are interesting, there are some that are nonsense. ChatGPT is the same.

It's a lot better at non-fiction and just giving you information. You ask a question and it'll answer based on the information that it has in its archives, a lot of that information can be incorrect, making it less reliable than a Google search, at first. 

However, what makes ChatGPT interesting is that it is capable of correcting itself and "apologising" before giving you more accurate information. As an example, I asked ChatGPT to give me a list of African sun deities. The very first name on that list was Amaterasu, whom ChatGPT referred to as a Yoruba deity. Amaterasu is Japanese. What I found funny, was it listed Ọlọrun, the supreme being of the Yoruba pantheon, often depicted as a sun god. So, A for effort?

I pointed out Amaterasu's Japanese origins and ChatGPT apologised before describing her in more accurate detail and listing a few more actual sun-related deities from various African cultures. Unfortunately, I can't show you the interaction, as I deleted it to reduce clutter and despite my near omniscience, I had not anticipated writing this article. It was a spur-of-the-moment type of thing. Anyway, it was through this prompt and others that I also found that ChatGPT has a limited, but decently-sized capacity for conversation. To put it simply, as an informational tool, ChatGPT still has some work to be done, though the developers are heading in the right direction.

But let's get back to storytelling because that's what we do here at Mortiferous Arcadia. If you're trying to create something worthwhile as an aspiring writer, then you're better off honing your craft and interacting with stories both well-written and poorly written in whatever medium you specialise in. If your livelihood is on the line, ChatGPT and other AI writing tools are not going to save you nor will they save any studio that tries to use them. 

Nothing is new, but the depths of human creativity are vast. There's always going to be something unique about one person's story if they're passionate, skilled and talented enough. Let's not forget the massive pool of different cultures, experiences and perspectives that can influence storytelling. So I reiterate my point, that there is nothing to be afraid of at the moment. ChatGPT is perhaps the best tool of its kind, but getting anything good from it requires the one giving the prompt to be clever, creative and specific.

However, I must admit that ChatGPT is incredibly fun to use if all you want is to see what it can do with the information you give it. I've had a blast telling it to come up with retellings of tv shows that annoyed me, interactions between characters from different franchises and even some original content. 

I asked ChatGPT to create a game similar to those in the Grand Theft Auto franchise set in South Africa. It gave me a game called "Safari City Chronicles". Granted the description of the game was pretty interesting when I read it, but that title is the one thing I can remember fully from that interaction, which I also deleted unfortunately. 

If you're trying to do a long story with multiple chapters or episodes ChatGPT can remember previous prompts and stay in line with what it's already written, but inconsistencies will arise the longer the story goes and the more characters are introduced, at which point you'll have to remind it. It is also terrible at dialogue. If you were to copy and paste it, anyone could tell it was written by a machine. 

You also have to be careful with giving it too much free reign, as it will come up with the most boring, cookie-cutter happily ever afters you've ever seen. You know how we do things here at Mortiferous Arcadia. Even our most uplifting tales have an element of angst to them. If you want a grim-dark story, make sure to specify that. On a side note, if I ever see the words "enigmatic" or "determination" again, it'll be too soon.

Now while I did most of the heavy lifting, ChatGPT did at times help me streamline certain ideas and even introduced elements that I, in my infinite wisdom, did not consider. This leads me to believe that in a few years, ChatGPT and others will be effective writing tools when used correctly and there may be a conversation about its impact on the writing profession, but until then I'd tell writers at all levels to, as they say in the Dark Souls community, git gud. Focus on honing your craft and less on the imperfect "AI".

As I said, I wouldn't recommend ChatGPT for serious writing, but I do think it's worth trying out. If nothing else, it can be fun.