Artificial intelligence is the future of technology. Well, maybe it’s our modern technology. Either way, AI is here to stay. From robots to medicine to teaching, it is increasingly becoming more useful.

Now, AI is moving into the realm of writing, and not just with one sentence emails but full fictional novels.

AI could have its benefits from a production standpoint. For example, if the publishing industry experiences an absence of fantasy novels but the demand is high, within seconds, AI could write a story ready for the public. Writing becomes nearly instantaneous. AI could eliminate the time component of waiting on a human writer.

With AI grammar programs already in use, writing programs will either produce flawless content on the first draft or contain editing capabilities for self-correction. At the worst, the produced text could be put into a different AI program for grammar check. Regardless of the option, AI reduces the time needed for the editing process. It eliminates all the extra sets of eyes that typically go into getting a book ready for the public.

AI is efficient.

It can automate writing, a task that is mentally and time consuming for most people. Even writing a simple email can take twenty minutes to perfect. But AI would be able to write it—just like that.

And that’s cool. I’ve never been a technology wizard, never claimed to understand how AI works, but it amazes me that a computer has the potential to write at that capacity. Maybe my lack of understanding explains my amazement.

The rush of technological growth is exciting. It’s welcomed.

But what about human writers?

Writing and language is one of the fundamental aspects of humanity’s evolutionary development, and more than that, they are primary avenues for connection, expression and creativity.

Whether it be a 10 word poem or a 1,000 page book, the writing is conveying some aspect of human experience, thought or emotion. This is how we relate to each other.

I don’t necessarily mind the auto generated emails. That makes life and work easier. That gives us humans time to work on something else, to put our energy into something else. But for creative work? Screenplays, theater scripts, poems, novels—what place does a computer have in composing these texts?

AI writing programs have their place, but is that place in art? In storytelling? No.

It can streamline the publishing industry. SImple grammar editing could take a fraction of the time. It can assist professional work and businesses’ outputs. It can be a tool in the writing process.

Maybe I’m just sentimental. Maybe I’m holding on too much to how written art is created now. Yet, I have to question the authenticity of something written by an AI program.

The speed capacity of AI is astonishing. But what about the author who labors over each and every word of their novel?

What about the spark of an idea that only comes from a morning train ride, a vivid dream, a shadow from the moon? AI responds to programmed needs: a theme, desired word count, genre and more.

I’m not sure a computer can experience the same moment of inspiration or develop a fully fleshed out character or plot. The writing might be flawless and the story entertaining enough, but will it have the same spirit of a human’s effort?

Maybe a day will come when the writing between an AI program and a human is indistinguishable. But even on that day, I’ll still want to read the work produced by the person. It would feel more real, I think. Perhaps not textually, but I could enjoy the work knowing it came from someone like me, at least alive like me.

Maddie Peters can be reached at pete9542@stthomas.edu.