THE STORY VAULT BLOG

THE ETHICAL USE OF AI IN WRITING FICTION

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AI is the most controversial technology to come along in decades. There is tremendous debate (and sometimes confusion) over how to use it or whether it should be used at all.

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My personal opinion is that AI should not be used to generate story, plot, develop characters, create dialogue…basically anything connected with the creative aspects of writing fiction. I feel it’s acceptable to use it for catching spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. How many people have already used spell check or programmes* like Grammarly? And while AI can be useful in this regard…it’s function is redundant in terms of the tools we can already access.

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So what then is a legitimate and literary use of AI?

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Evaluation and analysis. AI has given me the most useful thing I could ever wish for: criticism. AI is available as a 24/7 critic. And no matter what I do it’s never 100% satisfied. That’s my fault. I asked for it. I wanted it to push me and it acquiesced.

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The ethical and legitimate use of AI is for improving one’s writing through critical evaluations. In that regard AI can be a boon for movies, television and literature…and for serious authors. (Not to mention publishers, producers, agents and managers.) Better screenplays mean better parts for actors, more financially successful programming, and more jobs. In the discussion of AIs role in the arts this is (I was going to say “almost”) entirely overlooked. The worry is that AI will replace humans. The promise is that AI will make humans better.

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The Authors Guild provides a guide to AI use for authors 

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Alyssa Matesic: 3 Ways ChatGPT Can Help Your Book Writing Process

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*For screenplays I use American spelling. For my blog posts I default to Canadian spelling simply because it’s easier and more natural for me. Focusing on using American spellings actually takes up a lot of energy.