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I am definitely missing the pre-AI writing era

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Re: I am definitely missing the pre-AI writing era

#211

Post by [deleted] »

cortesoft wrote: post #202
dhosek wrote: post #183

I’ve completely avoided using AI for writing (although it looks like my coding avoidance is coming to an end). As someone who kind of views using a thesaurus as “cheating”¹, using AI to do the writing is way beyond the pale. A lot of what writing is about for me is about discovering and distilling and figuring out what I think. Take that away and I might as well just the spend the day watching television and playing…

> As someone who kind of views using a thesaurus as “cheating” I don't think cheating is the right word here (ironically), which I think you are kind of acknowledging by putting it in quotes. Based on your footnote, it sounds like you are more concerned that using a thesaurus is more likely to end with a worse result, since you are likely to use the incorrect word, or to use the word incorrectly. This sounds more lik…

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Re: I am definitely missing the pre-AI writing era

#213

Post by margalabargala »

encom wrote: post #188
margalabargala wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I 'm sure you consider your opinion to be correct, but there is something to writing being an act of creative expression. It's fine for it to be a selfish activity. Diaries are this way, for example, and the negativity you point at other people's hobbies is unfortunate. There's something to the idea that if the writer is writing with the intention of publishing it, that should be edited. But if you're writing for you…

Franks diary was edited, both by herself and later publishers.

Sure, it was edited. The point is, there exist those of us who have desire to read the unedited version.

Re: I am definitely missing the pre-AI writing era

#214

Post by epolanski »

I start feeling this for coding.

I didn't expect AI to write 95%+ of my code, but here we are.

I can't say whether I feel worried or not. I am trying now to gamify manual coding by having to review and edit a random file from my work codebases a day and still do occasional leetcodes and katas.

But overall I enjoy coding less for sure. I can't think of the last time I spent heavy time focusing on a refactor or lower level design abstractions.

I don't think I will be still coding 5 years from now. The joy is just not there.

Re: I am definitely missing the pre-AI writing era

#216

Post by shagie »

piker wrote: post #130
shagie wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well, for one example, it inhibits your desire to improve against those very blind spots. I'd contend this is not true. Even professional authors go to an editor who identifies things that need to be fixed. As the author of the text and knowing what it should be, it can be difficult to read what you wrote to find those mistakes. > In exchange for that your audience gets 3-4x length normalized bullshit to read inste…

> Even professional authors go to an editor who identifies things that need to be fixed. Yes, and these people are good at it. What’s your point? If you need grammar checking, there are thousands of apps including word processors, web browsers and even most mobile devices that will check your inputs for grammar and spelling mistakes as you type. All of that without burning down the rainforests or neutering your thesi…

I believe you are confusing what an editor does and proofreading.

In the time before LLMs, for some of my occasional blog posts I'd first post it to whatever messaging system my colleges used and ask them to read over it. Identifying that "this word is confusing in this context" or "you're using jargon here that I'm unfamiliar with" is helpful. There's also stylistic items of "this sentence goes on for far too many words and thoughts without making a single punctuation mark indicating where it is complete or delineating two or more different ideas leading the reader to have to keep back tracking the thought to try to keep it all in their mind which can be confusing and makes it more difficult to read."

Proofreading tools pick up some typos and punctation errors in that previous bit. https://imgur.com/a/oqqoEGV None of them called out its structure.

Compare with https://chatgpt.com/share/69cb180e-2090-832f-838e-896a3cab4e... ... which did call it out.

    The overly long example sentence introduces unintended humor or self-parody, which may dilute the seriousness of the point.
Now, one could argue that taking its advice for the structure and that I have incompletely formulated some arguments would change the tone of my writing. However, any changes that I make are changes that I intend to make and are not the result of the LLM rewriting my words.

My thesis remains intact.

Re: I am definitely missing the pre-AI writing era

#217

Post by hoherd »

everdrive wrote: post #35

Not joking, buy and read books. Old books are only written by people. (and the help of an editor)

Nothing has made me want to read classic literature more than AI. For the first time in probably over a decade I even went to my local used bookstore with a list of books to buy, but sadly none of them were in stock. I have had a bit of luck at little free libraries though.

Re: I am definitely missing the pre-AI writing era

#220

Post by prewett »

boca_honey wrote: post #119

>I just wrote what my brain is instructing to type (might not reread it before posting) Why would I put effort into reading something that had no effort put in by the author? This guy needs an editor, AI or otherwise.

Seemed like satire to me. The author is pretty intentionally oblivious, and even suggests that other people see flaws in their writing that they don’t see. Also, the most egregious errors are right after comments about grammar and such.
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