🦉 Creative AI Digest - Issue #13

This is your favorite weekly newsletter about the intersection of AI and creativity. Only Creative AI Digest brings you a humorous and wise perspective from an author who isn't suing OpenAI.

Looking to create a personal style guide with ChatGPT? Check out the guest blog post I did for beehiiv. 👇

The first merch! Oh, Artie the Owl is so well-positioned for puns and dad jokes. The very first design is an unlisted t-shirt on Amazon. If you buy it, I’ll make more.

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✨ Personal Update

I’ve just published a new book for discovery writers! And plotters will find it fascinating as well. In this new book, I document my process of “performing” a story with ChatGPT. I had SO much fun writing this way.

Want a gift link from Amazon to get it for free? The first 10 people to share a link to this post on Twitter (tag me @JThorn_) will get a free copy! Sorry, only folks with a U.S. Amazon account who are currently in the United States are eligible. Amazon’s rules, not mine.

📚 PENding Litigation: Authors Write Their Resistance Against AI Overlords

Summary

• Nora Roberts, Michael Chabon, Margaret Atwood, and about 8,000 other authors are wielding their mighty pens against the encroaching AI armies of OpenAI and Meta.

• Spearheading class action lawsuits and contract amendments, they are striving for a new world order where their intellectual property is protected.

• The literary crusaders are demanding AI companies get permission or offer compensation for using their books to train Large Language Models.

My Take

Authors want AI companies to pay for “reading” their books, but doesn't that muddy the waters of what constitutes learning? If we follow that logic, every individual who's ever turned a page and gleaned insight from a book should be receiving a monthly invoice for “licensing” fees.

The world of AI certainly needs a sheriff and some laws, no doubt about it. But this particular approach feels like trying to lasso a tornado with a spaghetti strand. Groan. That last line was ChatGPT’s joke, not mine.

💻 The AI Gold Rush: Unearth a Mother Lode of Opportunities in the Cloud

Summary

• Generative AI and cloud computing is reshaping the tech landscape and opening up a slew of juicy new roles. From AI Cloud Architects to AI Ethicists, the forecast calls for a chance of opportunity with a high probability of high pay.

• The ground beneath our digital feet is shifting, and those who adapt will find themselves at the forefront of the tech revolution. Consider this your invite to the party of the future.

• Here's a role you wouldn't have seen a decade ago: AI Ethicist. In the brave new world of AI, we need wise souls to navigate the ethical mazes and mitigate biases, privacy issues, and societal impacts. Just when you thought tech was all algorithms and no philosophy!

My Take

Given so many pessimistic headlines, it’s refreshing to see a more balanced perspective emerging. Too often we hear the ominous toll of AI as the job slayer, but let's not forget the other side of the coin. Just as the churn of the ocean births new waves, so too does the growth of AI herald the creation of a raft of exciting, and crucial, new roles.

That's not to say everyone will ride the crest of this wave; there will inevitably be those who wipe out, a stark reality we must not shy away from.

As we delve deeper into the vast potential, and indeed the pitfalls, of AI, having dedicated ethical compasses to navigate these uncharted waters becomes not just desirable, but a dire necessity, in both the realms of business and government.

🎯 Prompt of the Week

📜 No Fear of AI Here: One Writer's Guide to Keeping It Real (and Keeping His Job)

Summary

• The thought of AI taking over jobs can be a spine-chilling prospect for some, particularly those involved in content creation.

• The fear factor, according to Levin, stems from three reasons: questionable writing skills, misconceptions about ChatGPT's capabilities (spoiler alert: it’s not exactly Hemingway), and future AI advancements.

• His words of wisdom? Write more, learn to distinguish the flavorless AI prose, and embrace the fact that AI can't pen an Oscar-winning screenplay or a gut-wrenching novel. Not yet, at least.

My Take

The more I use ChatGPT, the less intimidating it becomes. It’s like dancing with a robot – yes, it can follow the steps, but it lacks the verve and improvisation of a human partner.

AI, at its core, is an obedient scribe, carrying out the directives we set, missing the nuances that come with human knowledge or life experience.

🖋️ Writing Wrong: The Introvert's Guide to ChatGPT Collaboration

Summary

• For the introverted among us, ChatGPT is a game-changer. They're finding joy in this quiet collaboration, using the bot to overcome writer's block and get their creative juices flowing again.

• The introverted writer gets a non-judgmental partner in crime to finesse their work and broaden their creative horizon. And, while it's still early days, and ChatGPT can't exactly be trusted to get everything right or not to buckle under pressure, its presence offers an exciting prospect for future creativity.

• The caveat: one must stay in control, continue to ask the hard questions, and never let a bot have the last word.

My Take

I don’t use my INTJ label as a crutch anymore. But I’m still a member of the introvert’s club, which means I know the challenges faced by introverted authors.

With the right prompt, an AI tool can be a non-judgmental critique partner that offers unbiased feedback and fresh perspectives, helping writers refine their work and flex their creativity muscles.

But, it's no magical oracle. It will become increasingly crucial for individuals to learn how to direct or teach AI effectively, to coax out the desired results. After all, it's not just about what AI can do for us, it's about what we can do with AI.

⚖️ Balancing the Scales: AI Boosts Underdog Scribes

Summary

• Tools like ChatGPT are swooping in, levelling up the less proficient scribes, and injecting a speedy productivity serum into the process of text creation.

• White-collar warriors who've painstakingly honed their writing and analytical prowess may find their abilities less prized in an era of AI language models.

• But before we get ahead of ourselves, remember, AI isn’t quite ready to run the whole show. Humans still hold the reins, and the need for diverse skills isn't about to evaporate.

My Take

Some may moan that AI cranks out vanilla-flavored content, but here's the rub: it's lifting that bar of mediocrity a few notches higher.

No longer do weaker writers have to languish in the doldrums of poor prose. Instead, they're hitching a ride on the AI express, producing better content, and let's face it, making the digital landscape a less cringe-inducing place.

However, with expectations raised on the quality of content, the seasoned scribes will need to sharpen their quills and up their game.

👷 Text-to-Website? Yes, we can!

Enjoy that Bob the Builder earworm I just planted.

We’re going to see a LOT more of this coming.

From the article: “Template-based website builder Wix has announced that soon it’ll let you create entire websites by typing a description into a box and answering a few follow-up questions. Everything, from the design to text and images, will then be automatically generated for you, and from the looks of things, it’ll be pretty fast.”

Check it out! 👇

⭐ AI Superstar - Angela Yuriko Smith

Two-time Bram Stoker winner, editor of “Space & Time” magazine, and Horror Writers Association board member, Angela Yuriko Smith is keeping an open and positive mind when it comes to AI.

Check out her writings on Substack, and watch the panel she hosted with myself and Jason Franks, talking all things authorly and AI.

🌐 Rando Disco

Random images from the Midjourney Discord server, #newbies channel.

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DISCLAIMERS:

I use AI tools to create this newsletter, including but not limited to ChatGPT, Midjourney, and DALLE-2. My wife thinks my I is A, but that’s another story.

This issue contains affiliate links. If you click on one and buy something, I get a small % from the seller. There’s no cost to you, and often, using an affiliate link gets you a discount.

Nothing in this newsletter should be considered financial advice, medical advice, marital advice, or advice of any kind. But we can still be friends.