10,000 hours. That’s how long it should take to master a craft, at least according to author Malcolm Gladwell. Or, if you’re an AI, just months, weeks or days.
When I read that ChatGPT is now a skilled writer who has authored hundreds of books on Amazon’s self-publishing service, I was a little intimidated. To be clear, OpenAI’s pioneering chatbot didn’t publish these tomes on its own. People are using ChatGPT to develop themes, stories and chapters for their books.
My first reaction was, “I’m screwed.” But as the coldness of that grim reality faded, I thought about other things. Anyone can write and publish a book, and most of them won’t be very good.
Why should we assume that ChatGPT learned from large amounts of online writing can reach Stephen King’s level – or even my level?
In addition to writing for technical publications for more than 30 years, I’ve dabbled in fiction—mainly children’s books that I write, illustrate, and publish on Kindle self-publishing platform KDP.
So what took me decades to achieve, ChatGPT accomplished in just a few months.
I’m not going to lie; I’m a little depressed. The deluge of AI content is likely to overwhelm human products on the same platform. It also destroys the notion of talent, like you might need to write a book, publish it, and get some attention.I am very much looking forward to a book written by ChatGPT about New York Times The bestseller list before the end of the year.
perhaps.
ChatGPT Writer
When I was obsessed with the realization that I would probably never produce enough to sell my mother more than one copy, it occurred to me that I made an assumption.
Who said ChatGPT is well written?
In most of my interactions with the OpenAI platform, I found ChatGPT to be informative, smart, polite, funny, and occasionally outrageous. But I never marveled at its literary skills.
To test my theory, I decided to ask ChatGPT to help me write a movie script. I gave it a very brief synopsis, some characters, and even a little casting, but other than that, let it write as it sees fit.
A screenplay needs structure, but when it comes to dialogue, it also needs an authentic approach to words. It also drives the plot forward. Can ChatGPT reach the level of must-see and must-read scripts?
my instruction is a new Star Trek The franchise films of Captain Picard and Captain Kirk (played by their original actors Patrick Stewart and William Shatner, respectively).The plot will revolve around them meeting through time and space, and then deliver Dilithium crystal (opens in a new tab) To be used as a global new energy source by 2023. This will initiate a climate change reversal (tipping point, their actions will lead to the creation of a federation, which means they won’t change the timeline, just strengthen it, but I digress). I left all other casting, plot and action decisions to ChatGPT.
I have to say that ChatGPT fully understands how to script with most of the necessary (if skeletal) screen orientations.It also makes a passable copy of the Kirk and Picard joke (last seen in the first Star Trek: Generations (opens in a new tab)). Here’s a little flavor:
Kirk: What’s going on here, Picard?
Picard: I’m not sure, Kirk. We were investigating a spatial anomaly when you popped up.
Kirk: Abnormal? That’s one way to describe it.
This computer reads all blogs
Another thing that became clear was that ChatGPT had absorbed all the knowledge from the original series and Trek. Star Trek: The Next Generation (opens in a new tab). Its screenplay is quick to adopt familiar tropes and characters, including the all-knowing Q (written by john delancey (opens in a new tab)) launched a campaign to save the planet.
it voted emma stone (opens in a new tab) As a scientist, later added Idris Elba (opens in a new tab).
The problem with the first draft was that it was too short and lacked a real second and third act. It seems to jump from premise to conclusion, as if it’s in a game to the final credits.
This is my first indication that writing with ChatGPT is not about telling an AI bot what you want and then having it write the whole thing. Our first screenplay felt like a draft from a first-year film student.
I asked ChatGPT to expand the script, add more characters from any of the original two series, and set up a barricade in the form of terrorists trying to steal dilithium crystals before Kirk and Picard can complete their mission.
First, ChatGPT seems to have lost interest and delivered half of the script. When prompted, it apologizes and spits out the rest. This time, both captains failed.how is it like Star Trek The movie is this? I think.
I’m asking ChatGPT to rewrite it with a Q twist that takes the captain out of time so they can go back to the 5 minutes before the terrorists blew up half the crystal and made it impossible for them to complete their mission.
exhausted
At this point, ChatGPT seemed to forget that it was writing a movie script and just provided paragraphs of dialogue-free text describing the action. It feels rushed, like ChatGPT is bored with the exercise and just wants to finish it.
I don’t want to post the full script for fear of inadvertent copyright infringement, but here’s an excerpt from a hasty conclusion:
Kirk, Picard, Emma Stone’s character, and Starfleet officers work together to install dilithium crystals in power plants around the world, with the ultimate goal of ending the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and avoiding the possible demise of the planet.
While working, Kirk and Picard find themselves in a strange new world, surrounded by strange technology and strange customs. They must navigate 21st century New York City, blending in with the locals and adapting to a world very different from the one they’ve known.
In the end, I didn’t get a working script, which was a relief.
Not only is ChatGPT not a writer, it lacks the energy and determination to create content at scale. ChatGPT doesn’t have strong ambitions to be a writer — it doesn’t have any. Someone who wants to write a novel or screenplay cannot simply lose motivation. Even as a collaborator, ChatGPT is lacking. Its prose and ideas have declined in quality and maturity. I can feel it’s running out of ideas, which is why it keeps trying to end the story early.
This is not the image of future great writers.
I have a feeling that whatever ChatGPT helps people post, most of it is rubbish and human authors and screenwriters are safe now.
