The End of Writer's Block

ATTENTION ALL WRITERS: 

Try ChatGPT now.

Artificial Intelligence has been getting a lot of attention lately, primarily due to the unprecedented popularity of AI chatbot ChatGPT.

There are numerous practical and philosophical angles to approach the topic of AI, ranging from the terrifying to the sublime. We simply have no way of knowing what these technologies will lead to, while the risks and upsides are both immense.

One thing is clear: interest in these technologies is MASSIVE. 

ChatGPT acquired its first million users the five days following its launch on November 30, 2022. For comparison, Candy Crush, which launched a decade ago, took a year to get to 100 million users. The telephone? Launched in 1878, took 75 years.

As a tech professional, I've been captivated by the social experiment of it all, and have been actively engaging in conversations on the topic. 

Yesterday, I was talking to a former Amazon executive in a wide ranging discussion on the topic, and amidst some of the very serious concerns he dropped a casual comment suggesting that tools like ChatGPT meant "the end of writer's block."

My initial reaction was enthusiasm and excitement. "Yes! Well put!" I said. 

The end of writer's block. 

Tools like ChatGPT and Dall-e and many others (new ones are coming out each day), can serve to accelerate the creative process of the individual.

I can get immediate feedback on a story point from ChatGPT. I can craft the perfect picture using Dall-e to support visually the words on the page. And it happens directly on my keyboard. No phone calls. No sounding board with other writers. No casual mentions in conversations over dinner. No shower ideas needed.

It's all right there. And in conversational style, and, let's be honest -- fast, insightful, and thought-provoking, albeit imperfect, sometimes inaccurate, and occasionally hallucinatory. But keep it in perspective -- the wide scale use of these technologies is brand-spanking new. We are at the genesis of their impact on our species.

But, let's not delude ourselves either. There's a duller side to the prism here. On further reflection, it reminded me of the concept of the "end of boredom."

The smart phone solves boredom for all of us. We can escape in videos, games, or endless news stories. Now, I still get bored. And it's a good thing. And I force my kids to be bored. It's a good thing.

It's also a good idea to avoid AI assistance. It's absolutely a good idea to struggle with which words should come next, or which story arc best challenges the hero of the story. Like lifting the dumbbell at the gym, there's now substitute for doing the work to get the benefit of the resistance.

BUT, there are over a hundred million users out there engaging with ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies.

You owe it to yourself to get some experience with them. It could be a good thing. AI is another potentially valuable tool in the creative process. Use it. And, practice moderation.