Ghosts in the Machine

My creative writing commission about Artificial Intelligence – Centre for New Writing, 2017.

Sam Illingworth’s article provides some useful food for thought. about this (to this particular organic being) disturbing development in technology. It seems as inevitable and ubiquitous as Skynet, sorry, the internet (it all seems a bit Terminator 2…).

When my whole creative-critical DNA is about honing the authentic, individual voice – mine and that of those I teach (whom I wish to empower through creativity) – I shudder at the thought of students submitting AI-generated stories, poems, scripts, or essays. A few ‘writers’ have already ‘authored’ books this way (a death of the author Barthes didn’t see), and a major publisher has even created a cover for one of its novels, to much controversy. Knowing professional artists who are being personally impacted by the insidious ‘scraping’ AI-generated art involves, I oppose the use of it on ethical grounds.

However, I am certainly for creating more authentic, meaningful assessments – ones that cannot be generated through algorithm-driven plagiarism. In BA Creative Writing we have some examples already, e.g. our Writing in the Community L6 unit, which encourages our students to design and deliver creative workshops within a community of choice, thereby creating real world impact. The more we think outside the box, about assessment, the better. That’ll be a win for both lecturers and students. Nobody wants to have to mark loads of near-identical assignments. Students sometimes request examplar ‘answers’, when it is their individual voice and vision that we most of all seek.

It’s a complex issue, and as a SF author who has won a national prize with a novel featuring AI, I’ve thought about it a fair bit.

But there is no doubt, it’s (already) part of our lives, whether we like it or not.

The gauntlet has been thrown down to educators. Who, or what, will pick it up?

READ MY AI CREATIVE WRITING COMMISSION – ‘GOLEM SPEAK’S – HERE