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The computers are getting better at writing

newyorker.com

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Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#101

Post by ayushchat »

nxpnsv wrote: post #76
ayushchat wrote: post #72

I've actually used tools like copy.ai and converstion.ai for a couple of copywriting projects and found them to be very useful. Of course the output isn't perfect, human intervention is required, but it is way better than doing the writing myself from scratch. I think going forward we are going to see a lot of human + AI writing projects instead of purely human or purely AI.

* you mean https://www.conversation.ai/ ?

yes right, typo I meant https://www.conversion.ai/ Their AI assistant is called Jarvis

Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#102

Post by bambax »

Many good and prolific writers of the past used ghost writers who prepared drafts and idea lists for them, in effect making their work more like that of editors (it is said Alexandre Dumas worked like this -- it's one of the only reason to explain his spectacular productivity).

So if AI is capable of doing some prep work, why not?

When writing fiction, my struggle is usually not in the writing itself (making sentences) but in figuring out what to write about (the content of a scene). An AI that would generate scene ideas from an input of, say, a list of characters and plot points, would be very helpful.

Outputting sentences and paragraphs, not so much (I think).

Also, the article seems to conflate Sudowrite and GPT-3 but it would be interesting to understand the difference between the two; is Sudowrite just a wrapper over the GPT-3 API that forwards requests directly? If not, what is its added value vs hitting the API directly?

Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#103

Post by ta_ca »

until a few minutes ago i was a skeptic. now i think about it... this gpt business is not only AI but it might be a way to AGI. why? it mimics us perfectly that each of us can fill books about the things we have zero understanding of.

Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#104

Post by shoto_io »

goodpoint wrote: post #95
caconym_ wrote: post #66

The lesson we should take from GPT-3 is that we spend way too much time reading text that isn't really saying anything, and/or failing to find meaning in what we read. It's a neat trick, and I think it could absolutely replace much or most of the writing on the internet today. But is it good writing? No, not really. At least, not in the sense of writing as producing anything more substantive than slick prose with a v…

Many (human-written) books and articles are 10% content and 90% fluff and repetition. The articles shared on HN are a good example. If the goal is to increase the SNR, GPT-3 is probably not going to help.

May I ask what SNR is short for?

Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#105

Post by ghaff »

shoto_io wrote: post #104
goodpoint wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many (human-written) books and articles are 10% content and 90% fluff and repetition. The articles shared on HN are a good example. If the goal is to increase the SNR, GPT-3 is probably not going to help.

May I ask what SNR is short for?

Signal to noise ratio.

Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#106

Post by arethuza »

shoto_io wrote: post #104
goodpoint wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many (human-written) books and articles are 10% content and 90% fluff and repetition. The articles shared on HN are a good example. If the goal is to increase the SNR, GPT-3 is probably not going to help.

May I ask what SNR is short for?

I suspect "Signal to Noise Ratio"

Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#107

Post by kubb »

adamauckland wrote: post #78
camillomiller wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a fellow non-native who accepted not to strive for full assimilation, my suggestion is to do the same. You can refine your writing by reading a lot. Books like “The elements of style” and “On writing well” can help with grasping those structural elements you might be struggling to identify. Apart from that, our brain has been shaped by our native language, and we can’t really delete that. Which is great news! It m…

I wanted to write a message to a Swedish relative to say "Happy Birthday" but the literal translation felt wrong. I asked my wife how to say "Happy Birthday" and she said "What you've got there is the right translation but that's not what people say". I think that's one of the hardest things about learning another language is to not directly map words but understand what would be said in a certain context. There is n…

This is only a problem when translating words or short phrases which is usually one of the first things that language learners try to do.

When you know the original intent behind a sentence (for example if you are its author), you can usually convey its meaning it in any of the languages you know well.

As your wife said, there is a way to express a friendly sentiment to somebody on their anniversary and let them know that you remember them. It's just not literally using the words "Happy Birthday".

Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#108

Post by CuriouslyC »

caconym_ wrote: post #66

The lesson we should take from GPT-3 is that we spend way too much time reading text that isn't really saying anything, and/or failing to find meaning in what we read. It's a neat trick, and I think it could absolutely replace much or most of the writing on the internet today. But is it good writing? No, not really. At least, not in the sense of writing as producing anything more substantive than slick prose with a v…

My expectation is that autocorrect and sentence completion tools will get better over time, until we get to the point where we have tools that take outlines and turn them into first drafts.

Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#109

Post by isaacimagine »

jcims wrote: post #98
Smithalicious wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if that could be a viable approach, having a separate "writer" and "editor" AI

I do the same thing when I write (except for my comments on HN lol) GPT-3 reads like the unfiltered garbage that comes out of my head when I'm trying to get ideas out. The primary difference is that I have empathy for the audience so I go through the effort to reread, clean it up, clear it up then cut it down. But that secondary editing process has nothing to do with the subject matter or initial content generation p…

> Basically when I write, I'm not trying to generate text, I'm trying to generate training data that will amend foreign models with a high fidelity representation of a subset of mine.

Well said! Replying so I can find this thread again, please ignore.

Re: The computers are getting better at writing

#110

Post by jgalt212 »

> In July of 2019, Microsoft invested a billion dollars, which allowed OpenAI to create a supercomputer with two hundred and eighty-five thousand C.P.U. cores, ten thousand G.P.U.s, and four hundred gigabits per second of network connectivity per server.

> Gupta imagines the product turning into a resource that writers will pay fifteen to twenty dollars per month to use.

That seems like a great deal to sublet some portion of all those resources.

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