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Wednesday, May. 29, 2024

5:20am EDT

Members: 622

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Total Online: 1,661

Toe in the Water

by Beholden

Rated: 13+ · Book · Experience · #2223922

A tentative blog to test the temperature.

Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end.

So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.

Signature for those who are nominated for a Quill Award in 2021

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Beholden

about 20 hours ago
In response to "Official Contests"

LOL Apparently, Ruwth!

Ned

May 26, 2024 at 2:09pm
In response to "Privacy Policy"

That leaves me with so many questions...

1 Like

Anni Pon

May 19, 2024 at 12:46pm
In response to "AI and All That"

It does feel like doom and gloom, especially for a profession like writing. But I don't think creative jobs are actually in that much danger (yet) from AI, because it just doesn't compare to a human in that area. AI is not creative, it just recognizes patterns in data and spits it back out. So the creative arts (creative writing, art, music) is actually one of the few domains where I think human expertise will be valued over AI, even as the use of AI becomes more wide-spread. It's a good sign that publishers are already demanding transparency when it comes to using AI in writing.

Will AI take over some jobs in the future? Yeah, probably. But it's more likely that the jobs of the future will be working with and using AI, not necessary replaced by AI.

However, I can't predict the future. Maybe AI can. I'll ask Siri.

1 Like

Scary spuds don't run

May 19, 2024 at 11:32am
In response to "AI and All That"

Beholden

I agree with 98% of what you said. The one quibble I have is that for things like Scientific inquiries about systems that change a lot, like coral reefs, AI is a good tool for analyzing that.

However I do feel threatened by AI. It seems to be taking all the jobs that smart people would normally do. It thinking it knows how to write anything that isn't business related. The fact that corporate greed will do anything to make more and spend less leading to companies salivating over the possibility of replacing costly workers with soulless AI. That really makes me upset.

2 Like

Beholden

May 19, 2024 at 10:43am
In response to "AI and All That"

I am like most people - I understand when something affects the way I live and the things I do, but there is less understanding when it comes to other uses for the matter under discussion. I'm sure you're right, Anni, that AI has lots to offer in other fields but, to the writer, it really feels like doom. But I do agree that you can't put toothpaste back in the tube - it's just that sometimes we should try.

1 Like

Anni Pon

May 19, 2024 at 10:00am
In response to "AI and All That"

Also, I hope I haven't offended any young folks with the above comment. It's not the entire generation, it's just a trend. If you're actively on a writing site like this, probably doesn't apply to you.

Anni Pon

May 19, 2024 at 9:52am
In response to "AI and All That"

AI is just a tool, in my opinion. There are things it should be used for, and things it should definitely not be used for. It's actually great at debugging code or explaining complicated statistics and other concepts, which is mostly how I use it. Much better than Google. I don't use it at all for writing, although I'm sure a lot of people do. I honestly think it's contributing already to the newer generation's illiteracy. I've seen a dramatic drop in writing ability and reading comprehension in the youth, I think because they've all but stopped reading and don't have to communicate in full sentences with proper grammar in their daily lives. When they do read, it's usually audio books and podcasts. When they do write, they can easily outsource it to Grammerly or ChatGTP so they aren't really forced to learn or use the rules. It's going to be a huge problem when a generation with minimal writing skills and reading comprehension get to be adults...

So I definitely get your point about AI being a danger to the writing profession. I do think there are other uses that are going to revolutionize society; it's just so new that society hasn't caught up to it yet. They're just throwing AI into everything now, where it doesn't belong, and the rules and regulations are lagging behind. Not to mention, the people making the laws have no clue what AI even is or what it can do. Unfortunately, the cat is out of the bag and there's no way it's going to be put back in now. We just have to make sure it's used responsibly, because there is potential for a lot of good, but also a lot of harm.

Simply Me

May 16, 2024 at 9:32am
In response to "The Way of the World"

I hear you there. They say the grass is greener....too and it's not. lol

1 Like

Beholden

May 15, 2024 at 6:35pm
In response to "Being Consistently Inconsistent"

Not rude at all, Amethyst. The truth may hurt sometimes but it's never rude. And you're especially right that we learn from everyone that we read, even if we're not aware of it.

1 Like

Amethyst Angel🌸📝🪽

May 15, 2024 at 6:28pm
In response to "Being Consistently Inconsistent"

I have no idea about my style… mostly I strive for class and decency. For instance, if a story I found had a lot of swearing in it or was obviously “X-rated”, I wonder who the algorithms would identify it as resembling. Short of such obvious turn-offs, I look for the same level of awareness of the importance of subtle word choices and descriptions in the works of others that I do in my own. For instance, I see you, Beholden, and our friend Jack Tyler, as being on the same level of dignified writing, saying what needs to be said, even if it’s gritty, in the most tolerable way possible. Joey (dare I say it aloud?) is in a separate category entirely. He’s a dear helpful soul who wouldn’t purposely offend anyone, but his love for tapping into the most visceral sides of human emotions, right down to the snot on one’s tear-stained sleeve, can get on my nerves. And when he writes in the Dickensian era, his language becomes nearly Elizabethan, which I thought seemed exaggerated. But one can learn from every style of writing. And I hope I haven’t been rude.

May 15, 2024 at 5:35pm

#1071160

Being Consistently Inconsistent

Being Consistently Inconsistent

A while back I came across one of these web things that claim to analyse your writing and tell you who you write like. Naturally, I threw a few things at it and, like most people (judging from today’s experience with the one found by Steven), it came up with a different name every time. I can remember that Conan Doyle was one of its wild stabs. And Stephen King, if my memory serves me correctly. It seemed that it was concerning itself more with genre and subject than style, so I ignored it and went about my business.

When Steven offered an alternative link to a similar contraption today, I watched everyone having a go before trying it myself. This actually produced a surprise in that one person achieved a steady answer every time - Stephen King for Steven. Everyone else was getting a different answer every time. Steven, of course, is published, so maybe this app is displaying something beyond the circus trick we all took it for. Is it possible that what counts is consistency more than anything else?

I thought I’d give the thing a go at some of my stuff. Started with excerpts from a short story hanging around nearby. Got a different author every time, really disparate - Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood and Leo Tolstoy. I knew I was versatile but in one story?

I threw a few more excerpts from elsewhere at it. Once again, a different answer every time. So I tried complete short stories. Same again, authors ranging from Daniel Defoe to James Joyce.

Now, it’s true that I tend to alter my style to fit the type of story I’m writing. So I get wordy when I’m writing something set in Victorian times, steampunk and stuff like that, much more direct and conversational for present times, and often experimental when writing sci-fi or fantasy. But the claim that my style changes all the way through something as limited as a short story, that surely is ridiculous.

So I am forced to the conclusion that the machine is not looking at style at all, but at things like subject, genre, word lengths, language pitch, and suchlike. But what then can we say about Steven? Is he just incredibly lucky and has hit the jackpot three times in a row on the random selection machine? In which case, I suggest he buy a lottery ticket right now. Or is it identifying something really consistent about Steven’s writing?

In the end, it comes down to what some nerd of a programmer thinks the machine should look for in assessing the writing of various authors. And I am rather dubious in accepting his judgement in that case. Although I’m sure he’s a great judge of D&D games authors.

Word count: 463

4 Like • Comment • View 4 comments

May 15, 2024 at 8:56am

#1071130

The Way of the World

The Way of the World

When I was young, I was annoyed that the old had all the good jobs and were paid loads for doing them. Now I am old and just as annoyed that the young have all the good jobs and are paid fortunes for doing them. If I’d known then what I know now, I’d have lied about my age. Somehow I don’t think that trick will work now.

Word count: 68

2 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

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