by E.M. Blake

(This is part one of a three-part series.)

“Woah, slow your roll, we’re not going to take it seriously. We see AI as a new meme opportunity,” Tennessee born MFA student Catherine Sheffield says.

She was one of five people I interviewed for this three-part series on ChatGPT, a natural language-processing tool driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that allows users to engage in conversations.

ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI and is one of the most well-known chatbots in a market estimated to reach 10.6 billion people by 2026. Its impact on writers, publishing and the world could be tremendous.

My interviews began as a probing exercise into mindset, but flourished into insightful discussions about generations, technology and the future of writing.

My second interviewee, Catherine’s classmate, 33-year-old millennial Imo Scrimger from Toronto, taught an AI program how to read. She compares AI to a child.

“A child doesn’t come up with stuff on its own. It has to learn how to read and write. A child’s basic stories aren’t going to be that complicated. They will be familiar, following simple steps and logic you’ve seen before. They’ll grab sentences and phrases. Think of AI as a child, helping you.”

During a recent encounter, my cousin’s toddler, whose favourite word is “No,” surprised us by bidding farewell with a “No,” followed by a tentative “Bye,” moments later. In one of our first fights, ChatGPT 3.5 effectively says: No. I admonish it, typing: This is not practical. Stop being so politically correct and focus on what will help me. It apologises, and provides a better response. The bot is occasionally unpredictable, with a rudimentary understanding of user needs.

Imo says, when everyone was rooting for the human playing the game Go, against a robot in Korea, the robot’s creators said: “We are human too. We made this robot. We did all the work and we taught it everything.” She highlights to us: “There are humans behind AI.”

Catherine, 22, refers to Generation Z on social media:

“People say: AI help me. I’m robbing a bank right now.
AI, of course, says: Please don’t rob a bank.
Too late, I’ve got the money, what do I do?
AI says: Please turn yourself in.
You’re just saying the most ridiculous things to make it freak out, because we don’t take it seriously.”

When asked about the potential for AI to sound more human-like, Catherine is apprehensive. “I would be scared to use it, rather than: ‘OK, it’s helpful now and I’m going to use it to write a book.’” It’s the fact  she, “Would have other things to be worried about,” weighing on her mind.

Fear And Laughter

We discuss Generation Z using AI for humour and I learn about Brittany Broski, the 26-year-old viral ‘Kombucha Girl,’ whose TikTok video became a meme, propelling her into the influencer world.

Catherine explains that Brittany’s videos involve role-playing with AI, by taking, as she says: “An era, very important for literature, Wattpad, because that changed the game. A lot of people were doing role-playing; it was very fan-fiction style writing.”

She makes hilarious videos. It is storytelling. She’s creating whole narratives. She’ll take a setting: “You can pick a character, like I want to speak to an astronaut.” Or she’ll make one up. She named a gremlin and had a back-and-forth. It’s made for entertainment.

She’s saying the stupidest, most inappropriate things and then screams with laughter: “I don’t know if it’s generational, and if these AI tools are being taken seriously by other users, but we just think of it as a new opportunity for a joke.”

Catherine delves into how, generally, “Writers are attached to the nostalgic. Some still use a typewriter or refuse to go on social media, or read anything people are saying online. As writers we have certain personalities that are reluctant to change, especially when it comes to technology.”

Imo echoes the sentiment, noting how her class looks at books and what succeeded in the past. That’s how they learn.

The writer in me agrees, but while completing an MA in English literature, I also came to appreciate the importance of updating my technology skills. Initially, I resisted adapting, but eventually succumbed .

In 2023, I experimented with video-making, dodging the bullets of doubt by leveraging ChatGPT to expand my knowledge. Armed with my camera, I shot footage and then proceeded with the mammoth task of assembling, crafting and refining. In September, I uploaded a Freddie Mercury Sotheby’s exhibition series which reached more than 22,000 views on YouTube. I also have a London Marathon video in May that I posted on TikTok which exceeded 446,000 views and 16,500 likes.

It was intoxicating connecting with people. Meanwhile, I’ve gained a greater understanding of editing, structure and growing my social media presence after trying, failing and finally doing better.