In my opinion, chat bots use too many exclamation points!
I've been reading a lot about AI writing tools lately. For those who haven't heard about ChatGPT and other AI writing assistants, they are powerful artificial intelligence tools that can write just about anything. You just plug in some keywords, and let 'er rip. In just minutes, you've got a fully formed piece to slap on the page. Done and done!
I like to work smarter, not harder, so I thought I'd let it help me write this week's column. I started by attempting to use ChatGPT, but it's all the rage at the moment so I had to sign up on a waiting list. I found another AI writing tool, called Rytr, and got started. It is free to use, but only up to 5,000 words a month.
I selected the type of writing I wanted. You can ask it to write an email, a business pitch, a cover letter, even a song. It didn't have a choice for a column, but blog post was close enough. I asked it to write in a humorous tone and fed it the following keywords: AI writing tools, column writing, use in newspapers, making writers obsolete.
So here it goes...
First, it offered this headline: Unleashing the Power of AI Writing Tools: Why Newspapers Need to Adapt or Become Obsolete – Yikes! I guess our AI overlords are coming for my job. But I also notice that it did something we don't do in our newspaper – It capitalized every word in the headline.
Here's what AI has to say about it...
Column writing is about to get a lot easier with the help of AI writing tools. With the help of these tools, writers no longer have to worry about spending hours researching and crafting their columns. Instead, they can just sit back and let the computer do all the hard work!
I have to interject. I really enjoy the time I spend writing a column. I like to do the research, because it's usually something I care about and want to know more about. But okay, computer. Go on...
AI writing tools are already revolutionizing column writing by providing automated content generation at scale. They can generate content on any topic quickly and accurately, making them a great asset for any writer who needs to churn out high-quality columns in no time. So if you’re looking for a way to make your column writing process faster and easier, then an AI writing tool might be just what you need!
Hold up, I have to butt in again. A revolution in column writing? I'd argue so far, this is pretty boring. I hope you, dear Reader, are still engaged.
These AI writers can be used to generate automated news stories in a fraction of the time that it would take a human writer. This means that newspaper writers and editors will be able to produce more content in less time, while still ensuring that the quality is maintained.
AI writing tools also provide a range of other benefits such as faster content creation and improved accuracy when it comes to grammatical errors. So if you're looking for ways to increase your productivity as a newspaper writer or editor, then AI writing tools are definitely worth considering!
As a human writer, I just want to comment that it seems like the AI is a bit too excited about all this. While touting “improved accuracy when it comes to grammatical errors” I have to say, this bot is using too many exclamation points for my liking!
AI-generated content is not only helping newspapers and magazines create compelling stories but also allowing them to save time and money by automating tedious tasks like fact-checking. In the future, AI-generated content could even be used to create entire stories from scratch!
Again with the exclamation point! I do want to take a moment to point out that AI writing is famous for being inaccurate. Tech news platform CNET recently had to make major corrections to an AI-generated article explaining compound interest. The article claimed a $10,000 deposit bearing 3% interest would earn $10,300 after the first year. That's not at all correct. Human fact-checkers are still needed to make sure the AI is getting it right.
The potential use cases of AI-generated content in newspapers and magazines are vast, but it's important to remember that it should always be used in conjunction with human writers who can bring their expertise, creativity, and unique perspective to the table.
Well, that's so nice of AI to say such kind words about us human writers. While I know the era of AI-generated news is already upon us, I do tend to bristle a bit. The writing it produced was pretty bland, and is often full of factual errors. But like any tool, I'm sure it can save some time and energy. It took about three minutes for it to write its portion of this column, while I spent about an hour making it my own.
I'm not sure you'd spend the time reading AI's column, unless you enjoy boring but grammatically correct writing full of exclamation points, and probably mistakes. I'll keep tapping out my own words each week, for now.
I like to work smarter, not harder, so I thought I'd let it help me write this week's column. I started by attempting to use ChatGPT, but it's all the rage at the moment so I had to sign up on a waiting list. I found another AI writing tool, called Rytr, and got started. It is free to use, but only up to 5,000 words a month.
I selected the type of writing I wanted. You can ask it to write an email, a business pitch, a cover letter, even a song. It didn't have a choice for a column, but blog post was close enough. I asked it to write in a humorous tone and fed it the following keywords: AI writing tools, column writing, use in newspapers, making writers obsolete.
So here it goes...
First, it offered this headline: Unleashing the Power of AI Writing Tools: Why Newspapers Need to Adapt or Become Obsolete – Yikes! I guess our AI overlords are coming for my job. But I also notice that it did something we don't do in our newspaper – It capitalized every word in the headline.
Here's what AI has to say about it...
Column writing is about to get a lot easier with the help of AI writing tools. With the help of these tools, writers no longer have to worry about spending hours researching and crafting their columns. Instead, they can just sit back and let the computer do all the hard work!
I have to interject. I really enjoy the time I spend writing a column. I like to do the research, because it's usually something I care about and want to know more about. But okay, computer. Go on...
AI writing tools are already revolutionizing column writing by providing automated content generation at scale. They can generate content on any topic quickly and accurately, making them a great asset for any writer who needs to churn out high-quality columns in no time. So if you’re looking for a way to make your column writing process faster and easier, then an AI writing tool might be just what you need!
Hold up, I have to butt in again. A revolution in column writing? I'd argue so far, this is pretty boring. I hope you, dear Reader, are still engaged.
These AI writers can be used to generate automated news stories in a fraction of the time that it would take a human writer. This means that newspaper writers and editors will be able to produce more content in less time, while still ensuring that the quality is maintained.
AI writing tools also provide a range of other benefits such as faster content creation and improved accuracy when it comes to grammatical errors. So if you're looking for ways to increase your productivity as a newspaper writer or editor, then AI writing tools are definitely worth considering!
As a human writer, I just want to comment that it seems like the AI is a bit too excited about all this. While touting “improved accuracy when it comes to grammatical errors” I have to say, this bot is using too many exclamation points for my liking!
AI-generated content is not only helping newspapers and magazines create compelling stories but also allowing them to save time and money by automating tedious tasks like fact-checking. In the future, AI-generated content could even be used to create entire stories from scratch!
Again with the exclamation point! I do want to take a moment to point out that AI writing is famous for being inaccurate. Tech news platform CNET recently had to make major corrections to an AI-generated article explaining compound interest. The article claimed a $10,000 deposit bearing 3% interest would earn $10,300 after the first year. That's not at all correct. Human fact-checkers are still needed to make sure the AI is getting it right.
The potential use cases of AI-generated content in newspapers and magazines are vast, but it's important to remember that it should always be used in conjunction with human writers who can bring their expertise, creativity, and unique perspective to the table.
Well, that's so nice of AI to say such kind words about us human writers. While I know the era of AI-generated news is already upon us, I do tend to bristle a bit. The writing it produced was pretty bland, and is often full of factual errors. But like any tool, I'm sure it can save some time and energy. It took about three minutes for it to write its portion of this column, while I spent about an hour making it my own.
I'm not sure you'd spend the time reading AI's column, unless you enjoy boring but grammatically correct writing full of exclamation points, and probably mistakes. I'll keep tapping out my own words each week, for now.
(First published in the Leader-News, Feb. 28, 2023)
