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sophware t1_jc57gsr wrote

Reply to comment by RamsesThePigeon in We are Unemployed Professors, and we've been writing the things other people don't want to write for 12 years. AUA. by unemployedprofessors

>utterly atrocious

In your opinion, does this atrociousness show most in long essays? I don't picture ChatGPT writing for The New Yorker or The Atlantic Monthly; but its short work and code is… well… mesmerizing. Maybe my wonder is based on results relative to expectations I had and will wear off. I do find the code it writes to be useful (though too flawed to be a direct threat to my job, in spite of the hype).

I decided to give ChatGPT one chance to answer the question "what is a ghost writer?" The plan was to post the result, no matter what it showed. It's like a blind taste test, though maybe not of the thing you're slamming (a few paragraphs vs a many-page student assignment or book).

>A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is hired to write a book, article, or other type of content on behalf of someone else, without receiving any public credit for the work. In other words, the ghostwriter's name does not appear on the work, and the person who hired the ghostwriter takes credit for the writing.
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>Ghostwriters are often hired by individuals who want to publish a book or article, but lack the time, expertise, or writing skills to do so themselves. Ghostwriters may also be hired by companies or organizations to write speeches, press releases, or other types of content.
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>Ghostwriting is a common practice in the publishing industry, and many well-known books have been written by ghostwriters. However, the role of ghostwriting is often kept secret, and the general public may not be aware of the extent to which ghostwriters are used in the creation of written content.

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RamsesThePigeon t1_jc5bdsk wrote

The "uncanny valley" feeling is still pretty damned profound there, don't you think?

For instance, have a look at the first paragraph:

>A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is hired to write a book, article, or other type of content on behalf of someone else, without receiving any public credit for the work. In other words, the ghostwriter's name does not appear on the work, and the person who hired the ghostwriter takes credit for the writing.

To my eye, that almost reads like an on-the-nose parody of AI writing: It says essentially the same thing twice, prefacing its second second with the phrase "in other words." Had the piece actually been intentionally humorous, it might have continued with "to reiterate" and another repetition... but instead, it just went right on repeating itself in the second paragraph.

A human who was casually reading the above passage might think that it was decent enough, but the façade would crumble pretty quickly once that same human started to pay attention. Put in slightly harsh terms, AI output reads like what you'd expect from a supremely average tenth-grader following along with a book entitled "How To Write Your Term Paper In Ten Easy Steps." There's no motion or melody or meter to the words; no change-ups in tone or timbre that might match the meaning that's meant to emerge.

(What I just did there was pretty clunky, but I daresay you get the point.)

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sophware t1_jc5qdid wrote

To each their own. I don't see uncanny valley, like Polar Express. I might see mediocrity, like Law and Order episodes once you've seen more than a dozen.

I have seen many dozens, by the way, and enjoyed them for what they were. DUN DUN!

To my taste, ChatGPT used "in other words" well enough, better than some of my writing, and slightly better than writing that includes phrasing choices like "supremely average" and "pretty damn profound." 10th grade English teachers, writers, editors, and even some people who read for enjoyment might just judge those to be weak or lazy language. (Hopefully, the teasing comes across as good-natured. If not, I apologize.)

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