Does ChatGPT Spell Doom for Writers?

Look around at the world and notice not what is there…but who is missing. No longer will you see a man on stilts at twilight, meticulously lighting gas lamps up and down the street. You won't find a friendly milkman making deliveries. And the men wearing the long beaks who scooped up plague-ridden bodies were out of work in the 1400s. Innovation and technology always usher in new changes. But when something new begins, something else ends. And when it comes to ChatGPT, is this the end of human writing as we know it?

The Ultimate Ghostwriter

So what is ChatGPT? Depending on who is answering, this is a fascinating new innovation full of possibilities...or a demon invention summoned from the blackest pits of Hell. ChatGPT is actually an AI writing tool that can, for all intents and purposes, write anything. Articles, screenplays, entire novels even. You plug in some basic elements of what you want and the darn thing generates humanlike writing that can be difficult to tell from actual human-created content.

And if learning about ChatGPT gives you a strange sinking feeling and you feel the darkness of despair creeping ever closer to you, then you are probably a writer. You might even find yourself wondering if you're about to join the ranks of the now-useless, like those plague guys or the old gas lamp lighters.

Are Human Writers Obsolete?

The recent writer's strike largely involved ChatGPT and concerns about how this tech will be used moving forward, though many of the headlines focused on pay disputes and other issues surrounding the strike.

Writers on all levels have reason to be curious and cautious about this tech. For the first time in human history, a machine can write dialogue and plot and actually tell a story. So you might feel a lot like the gas lamp guy the day the light bulb was invented.

And yes, it is a little bit scary. AI writing software is sophisticated enough to understand grammar and syntax and even slang. It can churn out entire novels with extreme quickness and write words much faster than any human ever could.

But don't throw out your old plague mask yet, so to speak. Because for all their sophistication, there is something that machines and tech can never do: create ideas. 

You can teach a computer how to write like a human and play chess like a human and answer questions like a human would. You cannot teach a computer how to actually be creative. Computers can study all of literature and can even create stories that are similar to stores created before. But a computer will never truly come up with a creative idea for one very good reason.

Only humans can do that. Only humans can invent. No computer program can really be taught how to do that. And as long as that continues to be the case, human writers are still needed.

The Striking Writers Have Asked for Support from All Creators

“We are asking our colleagues -- especially those who work as editors on TV, film, and general entertainment verticals - - to join us in adding a short editorial statement to the top of reviews and other critical coverage written and published during the strikes.”

This is the message released by the striking writers and actors represented by the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America) and the SAG (Screen Actors’ Guild). The writers, actors and other creative professionals represented by these unions have asked for help and support.

Should indie authors and other non-union creators give it to them? 

Writers on Strike

 

The writers’ strike has been ongoing since May as the writers, actors and other creative professionals (this includes stunt people, voice actors, etc.) continue to butt heads with studio executives and media owners, such as Netflix and Paramount…and Disney, and NBC Universal and all of them.

Unions have the power to go on strike at any time, though it typically happens when the union and the company that employs the union (in this case, Hollywood producers and distributors) cannot come to terms on new contracts. This is the case with the WGA. Contract negotiations between the two sides broke down, and this launched the strike.

But this strike is not simply about how much money screenwriters earn. They also have significant concerns about AI software and how it will be applied to their writing, going forward. Actors have a similar concern regarding their likenesses and AI software’s ability to take those likenesses and create entirely new content using them.

The way AI writing software is used, and how human writers are going to be compensated for their writing, is a huge issue that affects all writers of all kinds in every single industry. AI software can now write books. As if things weren’t already difficult enough for indie authors.

A Show of Support

Because this issue is so huge and because negotiations have hardly gotten anywhere by the end of August, more than three months after the strike first began, the WGA has asked for a show of support from all creators of all types of content.

How can you help? First, you can post the script provided by the WGA on any and all content you create, so long as you are at liberty to do so according to your publisher. But beyond that, you can also refuse to accept any jobs or gigs or projects that would normally be completed by a union writer or actor.

The WGA and SAG have also asked creators to refrain from creating content based on content previously created by them that is being released during the strike. Discussing the latest movie or TV show on YouTube or in a blog post, for example, is something like a digital version of crossing the picket line, according to those on strike. If they are not being properly compensated for their work and cannot receive proper compensation for their work going forward, they ask that no one attempt to make money off of their work. After all, that’s exactly what the studios are attempting to do -- make money off the backs of writers and actors without meeting their demands as far as AI writing and video software is concerned.

The WGA has gone on record saying that content creators who virtually or physically cross picket lines and continue to create content they have been asked not to create will never, at any point in the future, be invited to join the WGA.

As of the writing of this piece, only WGA writers are allowed to produce scripts for movies and TV shows made in the U.S., no matter which part of the country they are made in.