Like it or not, we appear to be headed into an era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is starting to creep into our lives. I occasionally encounter AI on an almost daily business. For example, this morning I got four (count ’em, 4) solicitations on one of my email accounts telling me that there’s this company that combats hair loss. And that’s what I am looking forward to – losing my hair due to Chemo. Now, how did that company know that I was anticipating hair loss due to Chemotherapy? Sniffing around on my social media posts, no doubt.
Now, let’s be fair. The company is “Hers” and aims services to women. I had a brief discussion with my doctor about possible hair loss, and she pointed out that hair loss by women during Chemotherapy is more of a psychological hurdle than it is for men. I can laugh off hair loss as an opportunity to cosplay Superman’s nemesis, Lex Luthor, or Mike Meyer’s “Dr. Evil”. The headwraps I see on women in the waiting room at the cancer clinic have my utmost respect for what they are going through.
Back to AI.
My wife started reading a Chinese Novel – one which started out as a novella. Read a chapter or two, watch a few ads, and the story continues.
She started to tell me about this thing she was reading and it didn’t take too long for me to figure out what was happening. The story had certain elements that kept repeating. For instance, the central character, a woman, was constantly giving birth to multiple children… 5-10 or more at a time. Take a break, read some ads, and there she goes again! The term “Breed Sow” comes to mind. Given the storyline and the willingness of the young heroine of the story, I firmly believe that by reading the ads, my wife is giving some piece of AI somewhere a cue to continue with the same storyline.
Coincidentally, Amazon has announced that it will not accept more than three books per week from any one author. With AI, apparently, some people are using AI as a shortcut to publishing fame and fortune.
What a racket!
I could spend just minutes instead of hours or weeks or months or years writing a novel that would earn me fame and fortune, thanks to AI. But that wouldn’t be very sporting of me, now, will it? Granted, there would be fewer incidents of misplaced commas (as seen two lines up) and the story line may not jibe with what I originally intended, but such is the cost of convenience.
Part of the reason I write is that it is cathartic. I may not have perfect grammar sometimes. I may misspell a word here and there. But they are my words, my constructs, and they tell the reader a little more about the person writing the story.
The month of November is National Novel Writing Month. I would hope that AI or AI-assisted novels would be disallowed. Would be a shame if it were.
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bdharrellauthor 