Artificial Intelligence: Should Freelance Writers be Worried About It?

The tech industry has been quite active as of late. And while there is are uncounted tech releases that deserve your attention, the one type of tech that has the technology-inclined drooling over their shirts is artificial intelligence.

And no, I’m not just talking about AI-powered smartphone cameras that seem to be sprouting like mushrooms in a rainforest.

I am in fact, talking about true AI. The type that has the capability of replacing humans at various types of creative work.

It’s an old scenario that simply repeats itself through the course of history. Remember when horse-drawn carriages were the main means of land transport?

I’m pretty sure that coachmen weren’t too happy when the first cars started rolling about. And well, the sad truth then is the sad truth now, and it will forever be so.

Either you adapt to the new tech by learning new skills to match it or you lose your competitive place in the market.

Artificial intelligence has that very same tone to it. Why bother with the risk of error, when a computer can be tasked with it? The possibility of losing one’s job to a machine is not a concept that’s new.

And freelance writers might be in the same predicament as that of an accountant, maybe not. But, it’s always important to ask the real questions; Because how else are we going to adapt to the ugly truth?

The question is raised: Would it still be necessary to hire a content writer?

Absolutely.

This due to the fact that artificial intelligence cannot hope to emulate human personalities and writing styles (yet). We all operate on borrowed wisdom.

As writers, our style and persona are greatly influenced by our personal experiences and the books that we’ve read.

One aspect of our experience is that of emotion. We remember how we felt just as much as what happened, if not more.

A machine cannot feel, and thus, it cannot express emotions. If one cannot express emotions, then one cannot evoke them. And evoking emotions is something that writers do for a living.

But I’m sure that “personality”, “writing style”, and “emotions” aren’t what you want to hear as a reason as to why AI cannot replace human writers.

Which is why I would like to introduce you to the Turing test. It’s a test that’s designed to determine how artificial intelligence can mimic human behaviour, enough for it to be mistaken for a human.

The passing score for this test is 30%. And quite recently, an AI that was emulating the personality of a 13-year old Ukrainian boy beat the test, albeit, by a hair. This AI scored 33%.

To put things into context, this particular AI was trying to convince judges that it was a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy. It barely passed at doing so, and I’m sure we can all imagine how it would fare in its attempt at mimicking a human writer.

So, rest easy, freelance writers, your talents won’t go to waste.