The President’s Message

President’s Message

I cannot believe it is almost the end of another year. It has been one challenging year, and yet we still have topics to write about. I will admit that writing allows me to ignore reality for a few minutes and lose myself in an environment that I have created and can control. But let me drag you back to reality for a few moments. I need to do that because I have been remiss in not wishing you all the best for the holidays. Happy Holidays to All of You!

Having dealt with the formal section of this message, let me return to writing.

Do you find the chillier weather encourages you to stay in your seat, enjoying the warmth of those computer chips as they try to persuade you that AI could write a better story than you can? That is what high-tech companies would want you to believe. Some AI-generated stories may be good; however, many are garbage. It is the same issue writers face, making it harder to distinguish between writer-originated and AI-generated content.

I have come to recognize that human-written stories reflect, in some way, the author’s own experiences, dreams, or fears. AI cannot do that because AI bots are simply plagiarizing previously published works. They have no understanding of intention, nor any grasp of what creativity entails, nor any human experiences.

It is interesting to note that there has been a shift in the general readers’ view of the published work. A growing number of readers wish to consume the works that are from the minds of other human beings. If a human cannot prove that they created the work, then more readers will leave that book on the shelf. However, that brings us to a gnarly problem. How do human writers prove that they did pen their piece of work? It could be a matter of including copies of handwritten notes from the early stages of developing the storyline.

I hope that the current software to detect AI-generated work will outpace the apps that generate stories. Won’t it be satisfying if AI can outsmart itself and flag its own fraudulent works.

Another thought is that we return to a pre-pandemic concept. If we promote more author panels at libraries and bookstores, we can spread the names of human authors, so that readers will support local writers.

This is not the time to be complacent. We each need to share ideas and come together to enact strategies to counter AI-generated stories becoming mainstream and an accepted medium of storytelling.

Write on and maintain a steady flow of newly created human-based stories.

Barry