The Rise, and Risk, of AI to Aspiring Writers

Folks, we have seen this coming for decades. The technology is not only here but it is also available for free to anyone on the interwebs for users to create without slogging it out and being creative. Yeah, Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is a gamechanger but it also has the potential to put a lot of people out of work and make people less creative. I want to prove my point and give an example;

Recently I have been toying with the idea of creating content for a YouTube channel and have dived headfirst into the world of A.I. to assist in my endeavors with efficiency and effectiveness. If you do a quick search on YouTube for creating a channel harnessing A.I., this space has been covered by many different content creators explaining the in’s and out’s with recommendations of freeware to utilize while creating videos.

I am not going to go too deep in this article as to how it’s all done, you can research that on your own if this piece resonates. What I am going to provide however is a compare and contrast exercise of a fictional story that I’ll make up and then submit the same themes to ChatGPT to create its own story to compare and contrast. What I hope to showcase is how the current A.I. technology available to anyone can “create” a story that can be submitted in written form that evades plagiarism, yet delivers an outcome that a teacher, a professor, a lawyer, or an employer would never be able to verify its quantitative or qualitative source; that is, whether the piece actually comes from a human author or an artificial intelligence software.

There is software out there that professionals can use to verify whether a piece of writing has been plagiarized and/or published under another author, but if ChatGPT is not officially publishing anything, just giving a user a result based on parameters given, then whatever A.I. creates can just as well be what a student or aspiring author searches for using vague terms. All it takes then, thanks to the software, is to copy/paste into a Word document and submit it for publishing or for academic credit under his/her own name. Scary.

As fellow writers and journalists, this should concern you, as well if you are parents or teachers that have kids in school being asked to write a short story or a research paper as an assignment for graduation credit on a specific topic to determine their learned understanding and potential to communicate in their own words the value of a given subject. No lie, this is the cheat code we all wish we had back when we were all in school, when the syllabus asked the student to submit a thesis paper on “The challenges and opportunities of globalization” for 50% of our course grade!

So, let’s have some fun. I am going to write a fictional 500-word essay, right here, right now, on the topic of a kid that skips school to go snowboarding and then gets caught by his parents after the school calls to report that he is not present. I spit balled this idea just now, but as a frame of reference, I am drawing off my own personal experience. Start the timer… now;

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The snowstorm had finally subsided early Friday morning. Robb had been watching the accumulation all night and kept refreshing the Vail webcams all night. The snowboard parks were definitely going to be covered over, but the back bowls were going to be epic with knee deep pow. With everyone still at work or school, getting first tracks was going to be fairly simple as long as he was there first thing in the morning. This is where the dilemma appeared; Robb was a high school sophomore and had a test in third period Biology. He was already carrying a mediocre “C” so missing the test was a choice between first chair freshies or being grounded again once report cards come out next week. If he got caught skipping again, his parents would lose it. The choice was on his mind while driving to school until he made it to the intersection; a left for first chair or a right to fall in line like all his peers to sit in classrooms all day; missing out on results of a three-day dump.

He made the left.

As the chair lift roared to life, he bumped into his riding buddies Kurt and Ryan in line. Ryan had graduated last year and worked at Vail, but Kurt was in the same grade as Robb from a different school. It was a surprise to see them, but not that surprising. This is what all three of them lived for. Ryan asked them both if they had skipped school on this epic day and Robb and Kurt both nodded their heads yes; with shit-eating smiles beaming under their goggles.

As the chair was bumped and they took their seats, the sun poked out from the eastern ridgeline on a bluebird day. The snowcats were finishing grooming the main trails, but that’s not what excited the trio. They were looking for the untracked backcountry lines with pillow soft landings and open fields to slash and spray the Colorado powder. As the chair crested the top of the line, the back bowls appeared before them, gloriously like a freshly laundered white duvet cover on a hotel bed.

They exited the chair, skated over to the entrance and fist-bumped each other. Meanwhile, the school registrar was picking up the phone and looking up Robb’s parental contact information. Two separate but pivotal events were happening simultaneously that would influence the trajectory of Robb’s future. But for now, Robb was enjoying the moment, in the present, clicking his bindings tight.

Choices define our lives. They create challenges and changes that we are here to use to build experiences for ourselves. As Robb sat at the dining room table that night explaining to his parents the choice of skipping school on a test day, his suffering was only about to begin; a long, long time of suffering without his snowboard for the rest of the season.

But that slow backside 360 he hucked off the backcountry “Whale” jump into a two-foot-deep landing of fresh……right around third period Biology….. was so worth it!

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Ok, that short essay is 511 words and took me about 35 minutes to create and edit; drawing from real life, past memories with a certain amount of writer’s creative liberties to keep it interesting and flowing.

I will now access ChatGPT, https://chat.openai.com, and ask it: “Write a 500-word moral story on making the choice to skip school or go snowboarding of a high school boy named Robb, with two friends Kurt and Ryan, missing a biology test to snowboard at Vail Colorado for the day while enjoying the three-day snowstorm powder conditions in the back country back bowls. Robb’s parents do not approve of his current C grade in biology or skipping school on a Friday to go snowboarding and the result will be him being grounded from snowboarding again for the rest of the season.”

The description I have just come up, which is a pretty concise synopsis of my essay is only 91 words long; a fifth of the length of my essay. My challenge to A.I. is to come up with an equal or better essay covering all the topics in the description in 500 words. Here is what it came up with, in only seven seconds:

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In the frosty reaches of Vail, Colorado, where snow blankets the land like a thick, white quilt, there lived a high school boy named Robb. Robb had a passion for snowboarding that burned hotter than the sun on a summer’s day. His eyes gleamed with excitement whenever the first flakes of winter descended from the sky, promising a season of exhilarating rides down the majestic slopes.

Robb’s two closest friends, Kurt and Ryan, shared his fervor for snowboarding. Together, they were an unstoppable trio, conquering every peak and mastering every trick. But one Friday, as a three-day snowstorm painted the mountains with fresh powder, temptation whispered to them like a siren’s song.

“Let’s skip school today,” Kurt suggested, eyes bright with anticipation. “The backcountry back bowls are calling our names. We can’t miss out on this perfect opportunity.”

Ryan nodded eagerly in agreement. “Imagine the thrill of carving through untouched snow, the wind in our faces, and the freedom of the mountains at our fingertips.”

Robb’s heart raced with excitement at the thought. His mind danced with visions of pristine slopes and adrenaline-fueled descents. But then, a shadow of doubt crept into his thoughts. He remembered the biology test he was scheduled to take that day, a subject in which he struggled, and his current C grade loomed over him like a dark cloud.

“I don’t know, guys,” Robb hesitated, his conscience tugging at him like a persistent nag. “Skipping school isn’t right, especially with my grades slipping in biology. My parents won’t be happy if they find out.”

Kurt scoffed, brushing off Robb’s concerns with a wave of his hand. “Come on, Robb. Live a little. What’s one missed test compared to the adventure of a lifetime? We’ll be back before anyone even notices we’re gone.”

Ryan added with a grin, “Besides, we’ll make sure you ace the next test. We’re in this together, remember?”

Robb’s inner turmoil waged war within him. On one hand, the allure of the snow-covered slopes beckoned to him with promises of freedom and exhilaration. On the other hand, the weight of responsibility and his parents’ disapproval hung heavy on his shoulders.

In the end, Robb made a choice. He decided to stay true to his principles, despite the allure of the mountains. With a heavy heart, he bid farewell to Kurt and Ryan, watching as they disappeared into the snowy wilderness without him.

As Robb trudged back home, his thoughts were consumed by the consequences of his decision. When he arrived, he faced the disappointment in his parents’ eyes and the grounding that awaited him. But amidst the lectures and the punishment, Robb found a sense of peace knowing that he had made the right choice.

In the days that followed, Robb buried himself in his studies, determined to improve his grades and prove his dedication to his education. And when the next opportunity to hit the slopes presented itself, Robb did so with a clear conscience and the support of his parents.

Though he missed out on the adrenaline rush of that fateful day, Robb gained something far more valuable: the knowledge that integrity and responsibility are the true markers of character, even in the face of temptation. And as he carved through the snow, his heart soared with the joy of knowing that he had chosen wisely.”

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Wow! If I could go back and tell my past self to heed the words of future A.I., I wouldn’t have missed out on the rest of the snowboarding season!

So, what do you think about that?

From my perspective, A.I. nailed a 556-word essay with a hell of a lot of descriptive words and emotion. It was even persuasive with morality and do-goodness. If A.I. had a conscious, it certainly displayed it and superseded my behavior and choices that day. I feel like it’s a script from a “Leave it to Beaver” episode!

Keep in mind that only took A.I. seven seconds, I timed it, and not a single human was involved. It is grammatically correct, in plain English language and requires no need to spend one second editing it. A.I. doesn’t know anything about me, my snow surfing bros, or what it’s like to session a pow day but it nailed the personality, emotion and technicality of what is like being a human making choices.

This should be alarming, both positively and negatively, to the future of journalists, screenplay writers, political speeches writers, hallmark cards, job descriptions, resume builders and songwriters. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point: we as humans are now able to outsource and make ourselves creatively irrelevant.

What a strange time we live in.

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Robb is a retired active Army veteran of 21 years, primarily serving as a Cavalry Scout. Having accomplished multiple combat tours, diverse global assignments and leadership roles, Robb retired as a First Sergeant of Shadow Troop, 1-33 CAV (Rakassans). From there, Robb went on to attempt his luck in the civilian sector as a Reliability Engineer at an international paper processing company during the pandemic. Not quite satisfied and feeling the draw to serve once again, Robb made his way back behind the gate working with some of the nation’s tip of spear warfighters on Fort Liberty, NC.

It was during this time that he was drawn into an esoteric spiritual journey of self-discovery and began peeling back the onion of how vanquishing spiritual warfare can serve as a personal force multiplier. Dropping all ties to dogmatic religious principles, Robb solely embarked into studies of the mystical and metaphysical for the answers of life. Now forged with this newfound purpose, Robb blends his current path of spiritual ascension along with his past experience of the rigors of military service in order to uplift the future of his brothers and sisters in arms.

“The answers we all seek lie in potential.”

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.