When the Hemingway app came out, I was encouraged to use it because it was supposed to help improve my writing. However, I found it was a distraction for me, suggesting arbitrary changes I didn’t agree with, and making me self-conscious about my writing using a scoring system that I didn’t really truly care about. I disabled it, and felt much better about the output.
I have also argued with editors many times, telling them “but I MEANT to write it that way”.There are countless micro decisions that a writer makes along the way which reflect the voice of the writer in a way that no LLM will ever be able to duplicate. They are what separate one writer from the next, and often a mediocre work from a masterpiece.
The rise of generative art demonstrated how absolutely soulless the use of AI can be in creative pursuits. But writing, next to speaking, is the most basic form of human communication. It is the last bastion of creative expression, and we must not and will not cede this ground to the machine.
I will never participate in NaNoWriMo again, no matter how eloquent their eventual apology for their decision around the use of AI. I encourage all writers to do the same.