A Professional Writer's Opinion on Why ChatGPT is Sometimes Just Better – Medium
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Melissa Maldonado
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A Professional Writer’s Opinion on Why ChatGPT is Sometimes Just Better
As a professional writer and editor, I experienced a lot of existential dread when the first rumblings about the marvels of ChatGPT started going mainstream. As a tech writer, I saw it coming. But the speed at which it was adopted by everyday users and integrated into business models (eBay’s AI-generated product description is a great example) came as a surprise. And was also a bit alarming. Not only was it creating content at a speed I could never match, it was also doing it in so many more languages. ChatGPT had definitely bested me.
But as a tech enthusiast, I was intrigued and eager to befriend this new technology. Even if it might soon put me out of a job. So rather than go on the defensive, I started exploring all the ways we might work together. Our first interactions were run-of-the-mill search requests (I was curious how it compared with standard search engines). The ChatGPT results were far more detailed and better packaged than the competition. I was thoroughly impressed.
So I decided to see how it fared when it came to summarizing articles. I had recently read a lengthy feature piece in the NY Times and couldn’t remember whether it had cited a scientific study. Rather than skim through the article again, I asked ChatGPT to read it for me and provide a synopsis that included information on the source material. I was floored by the speed and accuracy of the response. Just to be sure, I cross-checked the facts for myself just to make sure it wasn’t hallucinating. It was not. Uh-oh. I started wondering what my next career move might be. Prompt Engineer. LLM Consultant. Neither was incredibly appealing.
I’m a writer because I love writing. I consider myself a wordsmith and take great delight in constructing the perfect sentence. Finding the best word. Embracing my own unique style. It’s a craft. I didn’t want to outsource it to AI. And I was bummed that so many other people were willing to.
Until I got a text message from my ex.
It was absolutely harmless. It went something like this:
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