As a student within the humanities studying Professional and Creative Writing, the future can be uncertain and frightening. The basis of this uncertainty stems from a suspect that has become a staple in conversations throughout academia and the larger world itself: Artificial Intelligence.
For the past two months, I have been working at The Writing and Communication Centre here at UW and I have been reminded of one of the main pillars of writing: community! Sharing written works, from lab reports to poetry, promotes discussion, evokes feelings, and leads to inspiration to write more. Even at an individual level— almost all visitors have told me they do write for themselves in private— writing acts as an introspective, personal experience that helps one realize their own voice. This is especially true for free writing. This act, one which I partake in, helps build the confidence to go forth and join that greater writing community. Building confidence in your own work will, in turn, help you develop resilience to criticism when sharing it with others and receiving feedback.
So here lies the potential fears of AI within the writing community: when written works are shared exclusively with AI for editing, or when writing and ideas are generated or prompted by AI, these practices not only minimize your own voice but also close the door on the voices of others, effectively closing the door on community.
At the end of the day, AI is not going anywhere and it will likely continue to move forward at a great pace. It’s a tool that is becoming as embedded in our world as the internet or cell phones. In fact, every single student who has come into The Write Spot has told me that they use AI daily in some capacity. So, clearly, we cannot be angered with the public for embracing a new and useful tool, and an exciting one at that. My discussions with students have focused on how we expect to move forward with AI in our lives, and I have found reassurance in hearing them express the urge to maintain human connection within writing. Many students did acknowledge that their engagement with AI will continue, and that they would even read written works fully created by these models, purely out of curiosity for AI’s abilities as it develops and not as a permanent subscription. The conversations I took part in at The Write Spot reminded me that AI is still a novelty. From my freshman year to now, I have seen its role in education go from completely ambiguous, and a bit of a crisis, to the occasional pessimistic use in certain courses. Clearly we have not found a mutual agreement on where AI will land within University writing.
Like most, I will not be in control of the spread of AI into our world. Watching it roll forward like a storm cloud on the horizon and sitting there with worry seems pointless as it will arrive all the same. Instead, the discussions I’ve had with peers have shown me that we can control the morals and attitudes we take towards AI as we step into this new age. For my own self, I see AI as an amazing new tool with the potential to change our lives in the same way the internet did. As we change alongside this tool, there are things that I know personally will always remain the same: I will always appreciate someone's opinion of my work over that of AI’s; I will always seek out authentic stories; I will always look to share my work with others; I will always be open to reading the works of others and discussing them further; and will always cherish conversations that branch far off the original topic of writing, simply because the writing itself was that inspiring.
These are my standpoints in regards to the writing community as I move forward with AI in its company. They are not large demands or difficult to enact as, from the conversations I’ve had, I feel that they are true for most.