What To Do When a Futuristic Writer Lives in a World that Futures Away Writing

This is not a test. This is not an excerpt of my science fiction novel. Robots are trying to steal my job!

Ok I read this really well-rendered article. Deeply appreciate the digital art, design and the funky artificial intelligence experiment at the end. But the gist is, AI is messing with my money.

I’m not exaggerating or being unnecessarily alarmist; the world of AI has really jolted my 2023 experience even though artificial intelligence has been here and around for some time. I’m sure in some ways I’ve benefitted from AI in other contexts but this one rubs me sideways. There are a lot other voices unpacking how specific AI programs now have the robust ability to do copywriting, editing, and even writing paragraphs of novels, and writers, readers, and corporations are hopping on board. 

This is what I get for being a robot-forward Afrofuturist.

One friend said to me, who actually recommended when I was struggling to write a grant to us one of these AI platforms “A bot still sounds like a bot”. Which was not entirely reassuring. They said you have to go in and “colour” the text but the AI does the heavy lifting. And true, I don’t adore writing grant applications but I have also been a jury member who appreciates applications with heart, like a beating heart, like written by a flesh bag with a beating heart.

Breathe Frenchie, breathe!

But what happens when the AI is so smart that a bot doesn’t sound like a bot? What happens to humans like me, deeply devoted to the written word, to the sacredness of storytelling, to the intricacies of narratives and the beauty of books— what happens when we comes up again a system that can write faster than us, for no pay and with some updates maybe even make it sound like a person?

My existential needle is in the red zone. 

I want to be more nuanced. Have something clever to say about disability justice and how this type of thing could support people for whom writing isn’t their strong suit for so many reasons and this could offer equity to those with limited literacy in a world where paperwork and writing skills can determine much of your fate (job applications, resumes, government documentations, work emails, etc.). I’m not nuanced. I’m panicked! To be clear, this isn’t just a spell-check system. My other more techy friend told me for AI to work it needs data. It needs to learn. And much like the anxiety and outright rage from the visual arts community who have seen their work being scanned, gathered, repurposed, and spit out to generate AI artworks WITHOUT compensating artists who’ve devoted their entire lives to the craft, I for one am very very disturbed.

Am I overreacting?

Will Whitney French Writes soon be Whitney French’s AI Writes for her? Will there be a new niche market for publishing houses to only have their work edited by human hands and be my lucrative way out of this hell hole? Will the new generation of the literary canon be 90% AI-generating and have a massive impact on how human culture survives for years to come? Have I been doom-scrolling too much? Was Orwell right?

I’m going to go take a nap and read my very old, very nice-smelling paper books now. In the meanwhile feel free to pray for my field.

Frenchie loves you