And I mostly agree with you, Tom. I use Claude to copy edit drafts. I have to keep reminding him to stay in his lane as a copy editor and not blow smoke up my butt by over-praising what I’ve written. Recently, I asked him to review a novel I’d just finished with the eyes of a hard-ass acquisitions editor who knows the marketplace but to stop short of making any suggestions about style/tone changes to the narrative. He offered a thorough analysis with some cogent insights that affirmed what I already knew. But I absolutely don’t want to cross the line of turning Claude into my script doctor.
It’s all about comfort level. I think “script doctor” contains the sense of handing over control. I find if I use AI as a high-level editor, one I can ignore without any fallout, then I get the experience of an always-available, lighting fast second read that helps underline structural problems and strengths and raise smart questions- no different than the best human editors I’ve worked with- except for the aforementioned availability, speed and lack of interpersonal consequences.
Yes. And those books will likely suffer from the over-optimized, frictionless, risk-averse tendencies trained into models unless a human steers them away from that
I told AI to respond to some lyrics I am writing and to be brutal. Boy was it. Even tossing in quotes indicating I was not being writerly, doing all the thinking for the audience, maintaining a fevered pitch of anger, bereft of allusions. It really went too far for a mechanical assistant. Then, curious about which humans had just kicked my ass, I asked for sources.
Though licking my wounds, I pointed out that these were all literary or poetic. Which lyrics ain’t-necessarily.
AI came back in agreement with musical examples that illustrated famously and successfully lyrics that took a similar route as mine.
As to the examples used in this episode, and subsequent comments, I have no problem with AI writing books, movies or even news. As long as it follows the usual standards, and that the appropriate credit is always given as well as attribution and sources.
Yes. I’ve been sitting on this piece far too long due to a lack of a satisfying ending. Several AI observations set me to reconsider previous options. I immediately started sketching a finish I think will work.
And I mostly agree with you, Tom. I use Claude to copy edit drafts. I have to keep reminding him to stay in his lane as a copy editor and not blow smoke up my butt by over-praising what I’ve written. Recently, I asked him to review a novel I’d just finished with the eyes of a hard-ass acquisitions editor who knows the marketplace but to stop short of making any suggestions about style/tone changes to the narrative. He offered a thorough analysis with some cogent insights that affirmed what I already knew. But I absolutely don’t want to cross the line of turning Claude into my script doctor.
It’s all about comfort level. I think “script doctor” contains the sense of handing over control. I find if I use AI as a high-level editor, one I can ignore without any fallout, then I get the experience of an always-available, lighting fast second read that helps underline structural problems and strengths and raise smart questions- no different than the best human editors I’ve worked with- except for the aforementioned availability, speed and lack of interpersonal consequences.
I shudder to think how many books are now being wholly written by AI. It’s just too damn easy.
Yes. And those books will likely suffer from the over-optimized, frictionless, risk-averse tendencies trained into models unless a human steers them away from that
It seems like those writers have a different process and don't want to change it. So, fine. We all do it our own way.
It’s a free country! I think
I told AI to respond to some lyrics I am writing and to be brutal. Boy was it. Even tossing in quotes indicating I was not being writerly, doing all the thinking for the audience, maintaining a fevered pitch of anger, bereft of allusions. It really went too far for a mechanical assistant. Then, curious about which humans had just kicked my ass, I asked for sources.
Though licking my wounds, I pointed out that these were all literary or poetic. Which lyrics ain’t-necessarily.
AI came back in agreement with musical examples that illustrated famously and successfully lyrics that took a similar route as mine.
As to the examples used in this episode, and subsequent comments, I have no problem with AI writing books, movies or even news. As long as it follows the usual standards, and that the appropriate credit is always given as well as attribution and sources.
Did you get anything positive out of the critique?
Yes. I’ve been sitting on this piece far too long due to a lack of a satisfying ending. Several AI observations set me to reconsider previous options. I immediately started sketching a finish I think will work.