@freeagent

"Too expensive."

That translates to "not profitable."

I say, F that. AI isn't useful for writers/writing if it isn't trained on the writer it supposed to help. What it currently is, is unethical. And yes, you can train an LLM on anything on your own computer, privately, if you have a body of work and enough time to wait.

#Apple was in a position to do this, especially with Apple Intelligence qualified machines. Whether it will in future remains to be seen; manifestly, it isn't doing it now.

In the business world, we can for example train on all the tech support tickets, that is the dialogue between customer and techie where a problem and a solution are stated, including mistakes as well as manual pages, etc. Curation is essential. Basically being able to scold or praise results. I saw one of these LLM tech support AIs demonstrated. I was thinking of doing it for my employer, but I retired first.

We can train from a writer's essays and fiction. Apple certainly could have chosen to do so.

#BoostingIsSharing #ai #apple #intelligence #chatgpt #llm #writing #writer #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #programming #programmer #code

@tildezero

Like an alternative to reading to more books from other authors and learning their style, instead we could accomplish this [] faster with AI.

Nope.

I disagree.

I must have been unclear.

AI is like a pen. It sits there useless unless you think of something to write. It does not think, nor does it create. It predicts based on word and phrase frequency without any discernment whatsoever of meaning in the words it vomits out. If hate or misogyny is trending, that's what it will write. Beware.

Wanna be a writer? Note that friends don't encourage friends to become writers. It b hard. Here's my best #writingadvice:

First off, and primarily, write a lot and write often. You don't get mastery for free, dear apprentice. Rigidity in writing is rectified the same way rust is removed from gears. Add oil and spin the mechanism. Write. Don't expect perfection, ever, or good every time. You will improve if you keep writing. You are a programmer. Were you good at it immediately?

Keep your day job, though. I got one when I realized the path to being an author was long even after selling a novel.

If you can, find other writers and exchange small stories and essays. Learn how to critique the writing not the writer. Google "Clarion Critique Method".

Beyond practice, practice, practice, a way to improve your writing IS to read your favorite authors, essayists, and columnists. Don't just be entertained. Notice what works. Try to write in their style. Likely that will chafe as much as educate, and cause you to improve your own style.

Last recommendation: Pretend you are speaking to a friend and that you are telling them a story. Write it down instead (leaving out the ums and you knows). Dictation is good; try that. Most people actually speak eloquently when they get started on a topic they like or are telling a fond story.

Don't be afraid to revise.

Complete things. If you have to, make them really short. Complete them.

When you finish something, start the next thing. Always.

G'luck.

PS: Follow these hashtags and participate. It's good for short bursts of writing everyday.
#pennedpossibilities
#writerscoffeeclub
#wordweavers

My hashtags:
#writer #author #writingCommunity #writersofmastodon #fiction

cc: @freeagent @vextaur

I turned off #Apple #Intelligence because not only did it write things resembling "My grandfather fell out of one of those things and died when he was a baby," they made it so that if you press the space bar twice (which used to insert a period) now will insert that frequently used phrase or sentence ending instead. If you're typing and not reading what you're typing, chances are you're gonna say some very strange things.

I could probably go up on a rant on this, but when did people decide that #writing ought to be dumbed down to what everybody else is saying, rather than using your brain to come up with something eloquent to move your audience? Are we really that lazy?

Yeah, I see the root causes: Greedy corporations wanting to jump onto the next big thing, Gullible #programmers racing to #code the killer feature and bonuses rather than judging the worthiness of the feature. It's a little bit like radium and watch dials, which I brought back for one of my stories with a twist. Madam Curie died because science didn't understand something essential about radioactivity, yet, and who knows how many cases of lung cancer resulted from the glow in the dark watches.

The problem with #AI and ethics is training, the source. A good writer takes training, and that includes willing teachers, reading, experience writing, and feedback. A good AI requires the same thing, they call the feedback "curation." That's "educating" it what is crap and what is gold. Moreover, the training ought be done on the writing of the person using the AI, or by willing and well paid teachers, and I really don't get why Apple didn't take this tack and create something truly useful to that writer.

My best guess why not? The psychology of their perceived user: The need for instant gratification. If we train each AI the way we train each human student, where's the ability to cut out the labor and mass produce writers?

I want the personally trained #AI that can fill in the missing word that's at the tip of my tongue, that can reliably flag my recurring grammar errors, that can complete my sentences with the accuracy of my spouse of decades. As an SF writer or as an essayist, it should recognize my idiosyncratic vocabulary and not autocorrect it, to the point of accepting new words or phrases. It astounds me that AI contribution isn't color-coded in a ADA safe way during composition to show where the writer might want to verify the generated contributions. That all auto correct auto complete doesn't do this is a serious set back to the technology.

Okay, I ranted.

A big thank you to @vextaur for the discussion I sourced this from.

#BoostingIsSharing #writer #writing #author #fiction #SF #sciencefiction #WritingCommunity #writersOfMaston #greed #economics #genai #chatgpt #openai