In the world of writing, the ever evolving technologies- like the internet and AI- have so much influence over the way our writing is being shaped. The internet is providing individuals with different formats to communicate, and AI has become a tool that sparks a lot of controversy based on its use.
As someone who writes, it can be a scary thing to know how much overlap is going on between those two things, especially if you hate AI, but you have to realize that these technologies are the future of the way the world works.
The question now is: Why should you care- as a writer or a non-writer?
Internet
As surprising as it may be, we live in a world where writing is a common occurrence whether we consider it “proper” writing or not. Jim Rodolfo and Dànielle Nicole DeVoss’s article “Composing for Recomposition: Rhetorical Velocity and Delivery” states:
“Writing happens—and happens a lot—and lives in digital spaces like fan fiction sites, YouTube comments, blogs, and other spaces, and, Yancey notes… (Rodolfo and DeVoss).”
This article however focuses on the concept of remixing and writing for recomposition. Think of it like chess, before you publish your writing on anything, consider what an audience member is going to take away or focus on from your work.
Whether you’re a scholar or an influencer, everything that goes on the internet ends up being read and spread in some capacity. “As citizens and as professionals, they may be engaging in the strategic acts of composing-for-appropriation and composing-for-remix (Rodolfo and DeVoss).”
Once we start being conscious of this fact, we can better understand information being shared on the internet regardless of delivery and better our writing.
AI
As someone who despises the existence of AI, I still have to admit some people greatly benefit from the help that it can provide. Do I agree that AI should be doing our writing for us? No, but if we plan on using it in the future we should make it as close to perfect as it can be.
Lance Cummings’s “Introduction to Machine Rhetorics” mentioned that AI can be trained to write in a specific style for companies if trained correctly. He went into this three step guide on how we can communicate with AI and that is worth acknowledging.
If you’ve been job searching chances are you’ve seen posts for companies seeking individuals to help train AI. We’ve reached a point where AI is an integral part for businesses to operate. Chances are one day you too will work somewhere where AI is important to know.
We have to know how to write prompts for AI. We have to know how to train it. Even if you don’t like AI, it’s the unfortunate truth that AI writing is a skill employers want employees to have.
Word of Advice
Writing is not going away. Technology is making it a more complex skill and we have to be ready to improve and grow with it.
Comments
3 responses to “The State of Writing”
I have never understood the benefits of AI. To me, AI should never have been introduced to the digital world. That may be very traditionalist thinking on my part, but I do not see how it is helpful. Yes, it may help out those who are writing similar things, but I find that a little, tiny bit lazy. I find that we live in an era constantly looking for the easy way out when there is so much to be learned from getting your hands dirty. I’m not going to say AI is wholly wrong, but it definitely needs to be fine tuned some more.
I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis of this week’s readings. For me, I feel similarly to you in regard to AI. I don’t like AI, and I try to avoid it at all costs, but I can also acknowledge that it benefits a lot of writers, and to write in this day and age we must accept that AI is a part of our future as writers. This is an issue currently, because AI is not developed fully to write like humans, which makes it “wrong” in many cases, but with the proper development of AI, it could serve a vital purpose to writing and the process in which we write. I think your word of advice rings true. The fact that writing is hard, and it will continue to become more complex with AI, leaves us no other choice but to accept AI and train it to be a better tool. I personally need to get off my hatred for AI “high horse,” because AI is in our future as writers.
I loved your quote you brought up for Ridolfo and DeVoss. I think that really captivates the meaning of remixing. How we are constantly working, rewriting, writing something new, etc. throughout our daily lives. I really like your input on AI, and the acknowledgment of the three steps to truly understand communication with Ai. It is only growing and might continue to grow, so I do believe it is important to integrate it while we can, but not let it take over the true power of the human’s mind when it comes to writing. I am curious to see how Ai is going to evolve as it only gets to be more advanced.