Is AI a Valid Tool for Writers?

Do you use Grammarly,  ProWritingAid, or similar apps to help with your writing? If so, are you aware that you have been using one of the world’s newest writing aids, AI or Artificial Intelligence, perhaps without even realizing that is what that app is?

I had no clue about Grammarly, and I’ve used it for years.

AI hasn’t been the central topic of any of my conversations of late. I happened upon an article in The Christian Post, a conservative, evangelical news entity based in Washington DC, and my curiosity was piqued.

Is AI a Valid Tool for Writers? @DDuPreeWilliams #writing #faith #writingcommunity Share on X

ChatGPT

That article, written by Robin Schumacher, was titled I asked ChatGPT if I could lose my salvation. If you are unfamiliar with the app named here, it’s Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer. A mouthful. In short, it’s a chatbot, a software app that allows one to carry on an online conversation using text. It cuts out the human element.

ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022. Apparently, some have complained about the answers provided being biased. No doubt because there are humans behind the data they use. Someone somewhere wrote the words from which they garner the information. To read this article go here: bit.ly/3ywmkbn

The article was an eye-opener for me. I had no idea how popular such an app may be. OpenAI is aware of the complaints, and they are working hard to eliminate as many of the biases as they possibly can. The article mentioned provides a link to OpenAI and the steps they are taking to correct this issue.

This search led me to an article about pastors using AI to write their sermons. This was fascinating to me. I cannot imagine any pastor of any church where I’ve been a member using such. Apparently, some seminary students have used this technology. As the author, The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade said it poses many legal and ethical questions, not the least of which is, is it plagiarism? See the article here: bit.ly/3FoV1n1

BOOKS WRITTEN WITH AI

From there I searched for books created using AI. I had no idea people were doing this. Apparently, this method is much faster than sitting for weeks or months to write a book. Amazon is putting them on their site. See the entire article here: bit.ly/3l5UFej

Once again, the question must be asked. Is this plagiarism since the AI pulls from words already written by others? That would be a moral and ethical question for any of my fellow Christian writer friends. I think the answers would be many and varied. For me personally, it would be, I’m not taking that chance. It doesn’t feel right to me on any level. But you must decide.

A huge red flag to me was that these books seem to lack those things that make for good writing. It seems such books could wind up sounding like a lot of mish-mash. Picture J.K. Rowling at the beginning of your sentence and Shakespeare at the end of it. Harry Potter visits King Lear?

Well, I’ll concede—maybe, with all the retold stories out there today.

Apparently, there is no easy way around putting in the hard work of creativity if one wishes to have a good book. AI is not capable of the nuances you and I know to do.

 

AI is a valid tool and solution to some of the problems I may have with my writing but I don’t need those to write for me. As a Christian, I believe that we were created by the Creator to be creative. Read Romans 8:28.  God called us to be writers or speakers or both. When God calls us He equips us with all we need right within our hearts and minds. For now, I think I’ll stick with those things that only improve my writing—Grammarly and ProWritingAid.

What are your thoughts about AI? Have you used it at all? Anything other than Grammarly?

Blessings, y’all!

I’ve sung many versions of this Scripture. This is one I think you will all enjoy. As Christian writers, we know where our help comes from. His Word is written in our hearts. When we sit to write, the creativity He placed within us comes to life on the page. For those of you who read our works, we thank you from the depths of our hearts. May His face always shine upon you.