This whole AI ChatGPT discussion reminds me of Disco. If you suffered through the musical drought of the 70s and 80s brought on by the adaptation of the synthesizer then you know “rinse and repeat” content has a limited shelf life. At some point the steady back beat, the predictable horns, and other arrangements that seemed fresh at first ( thumbs up to Saturday Night Fever for catching the wave early), became tired and tinny. Reason being, there was no soul to the music. The tunes possessed no life or meaning.

AI ChatGPT content is the same. There’s a reason why a writer spends hours on a paragraph, days on a scene, years on a novel. They pour themselves into the work. This goes for nonfiction and fiction. Sure, AI ChatGPT could easily crank out a Hallmark romance. The formula is so predictable a chimp could be taught to write the plot.

But in the hands of real author, a Hallmark romance can become magical. Why? Because that author brings a unique perspective to the story that only she or he can tell.

The bigger issue with AI ChatGPT is that it crowds out other “authored” works. So from that perspective, AI ChatGPT is a concern. For every Disco hit of 70s and 80s another artist missed landing on the Top 40.

Maybe AI ChatGPT is better than my works. If so, that’s on me. But at least my writing, good or bad, is still mine.