By Ebi Robert
A
few days ago, I made a Facebook post where I said that a good writer
cannot tell AI to write for him. My reason is that he cannot allow a
machine to take his glory. Comments from some Facebook users obviously
indicate that they didn't get the point I was driving at. I mean my
every word.
During the duel
between Achilles and Hector in the Greek classic, Troy; Achilles showed
his swinging and clashing skills as he always did in battle. With heavy
strikes, he easily had Hector dashed his leg against a stone. That
moment was perfect for the warrior's final blow, but Achilles drew back,
saying that he wouldn't let a stone take his glory. This Greek analogy
fits into my analysis, if you understand my sentiment.
You
see, when I speak of a writer, I mean a writer, not a random dude who
wants to put ink to paper and pass a test. I am talking that penman with
the passion to ink on and on and on; tell a story, make an opinion, or
maybe prove his hypothesis. I am talking about serious writing craft or
business. Not a joke.
Personally, I see AI as a good
invention if only it can be used well. AI versus humans is a matter of
human intelligence versus artificial intelligence. It's that simple.
Anything artificial is not considered real. That implies that the
intelligence by AI is not real. Every creative work of art or
literature, in the wider sense of the word (literature), is a property.
Hence the term "intellectual property." No good writer would want to
claim the property of a tool as his. That's an abomination. Firstly,
that's stealing. Thievery. Secondly, it may be he is stealing an already
stolen property, if you understand what I mean. Every writer wants to
boast of his craftsmanship, his hard work, and how his creativity gave
him an encouraging result. Writers have that pride. It's genuine.
Take
it for free; AI makes one lazy. It has advanced the so-called practice
of copy and paste—still laziness. It aids plagiarism, what some call
intellectual theft.
Hear this
story: one day, I met a student who had written an assignment. When I
went through the work, I knew it wasn't his, but AI. I understand how AI
works. I understand that they've got a pattern, that there is a way
they work—there is also a way they write. I told him bluntly, "This is
AI." He didn't argue. He said he also did the same assignment for his
colleagues. Guess what? He simply duplicated the AI piece. On another
occasion, I told someone to write a piece on a topic. A few minutes
later, he said he was done. I said, HOW? I also asked, "I hope you
didn't use AI." He didn't want to answer. I then told him to his face,
"You used AI." And that's it.
Many
youngsters these days are not creative. They are not ready to go online
to download articles and books, read them, understand the arguments,
and write articles or works. They instead run to AI and shamelessly ask,
Write me "A Love Letter To My Wife."
For
me as a researcher, I take AI as Google. I take it as a search engine,
not a writer. So instead of asking AI to write, I use it to conduct
research. I see it as a research tool. That way, you do the writing, but
search for sources using AI tools. What you've done is maintain your
originality.
One day, I was
conducting research work. I downloaded my materials. For my last
research, I downloaded over a hundred papers, articles, and books.
That's small though, because sometimes I go close to 500, if not more.
On that occasion, I had done my own extensive reading. So I asked AI to
tell me its own thoughts about one of the scholar's works I had studied.
AI explained, but the explanation didn't quite suggest completely what I
had read. I asked again: when the article was written. AI gave me a
different date from the one on the material. I asked AI to tell me its
thoughts about an other scholar's work. Guess what? AI gave me very
wrong information. So you see! I knew AI was wrong because I knew the
works, and I knew the works because I had done my own reading.
Chat
GPT is wise enough to even tell you that their information may be
wrong. My sentiment, in all, is that, as a scholar and a researcher, I
love my originality. I've got that jealousy, and I love it. I want my
work to be mine. So I write them myself. AI is good. Use it as a
research tool, not as your writer. When you use it as your writer, you
don't only lose your originality and confidence; you may end up stealing
a work already stolen. Watin I mean be say, AI thief the work, then you
come thief am for AI hand. You can ask AI for any help, but definitely
not to be your writer. I mean a WRITER.