The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence on Professional Writing

1 The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Professional Writing Central Piedmont Community College ENG112-B181: Writing/Research in the Disciplines Professor Colin Hickey February 01, 2024 2 The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Professional Writing In the digital age, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a vital tool, which has drastically altered many fields, including professional writing. This technology, with its ability to generate text, proofread, and even mimic human-like creativity, has the potential to replace humans in terms of both literacy and publication. Since then, the role of AI in writing has sparked a debate about whether or not writers should be worried about being replaced due to AI’s impact on the writing industry. In 2023, this debate was made concrete when the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA), which produces all of the written scripts, screenplays, and other works for major Hollywood movies, went on a strike due to low wages as a result of experimenting by Hollywood executives with AI script production. The WGA’s strike finally created a platform for people to truly evaluate the implications of using AI to perform human tasks, especially in industries where the human touch is not only essential to the movie-goer, but is also the financial pillar for so many. AI’s impact on professional writing could replace human writing and creativity due to its inexpensiveness and ease of accessibility. AI is becoming more popular as a writing tool in professional circles due to its inexpensiveness, which would eliminate the need to pay for written materials using its software. This was one of the grievances held by protesters during the 2023 WGA strike, which echoed the WGA strikes of 2007-2008 due to issues with streaming services and low wages (World, 2023). All of the WGA’s 11,500 members took part in the strike, which lasted over 100 days (Holdsworth, 2023). The root of the strikers’ problem with this new technology entering their industry is very simple: since AI-produced scripts are written via machine software, no direct 3 payment or royalties are required to be given to WGA staff, since they had no hand or part in creating that material. In the last decade since the WGA strike of 2007-2008, some WGA members have seen their wages go up due to contract negotiations made during this strike. The wages of the lowest-paid WGA members, specifically those who specialized in TV production, increased by 17% (Holdsworth, 2023). However, during the more recent strikes in 2023, the WGA observed an almost 15% decline in member wages, especially for those who worked in film production, as well as a correlation between those members and movie projects that used AI (Holdsworth, 2023). Because of this, many WGA members are now making very little, with some making the equivalent of, or less than, minimum wage due to their work not being purchased or used by executives, who seem to prefer AI-centered projects and ideas (Holdsworth, 2023). This evidence shows that, while AI presents many advantages to creativity and produces value, it also has the potential to destroy the workforce of many major industries due to loss in income. For writers, they survive off of their writings, which are purchased and used to create different movies and TV shows for people to enjoy. When their works are not picked up by any of the movie studios or production companies, which have begun to favor AI works, writers are forced to work for either little-to-no pay or to find a different job entirely. It is important to remember that, while AI can create cheaper products with little-to-no human influence, AI can not be left as the deciding force in what different industries should do, particularly in how those industries decide to compensate their workers. Not only does AI create difficulties in different areas due to its little-to-no-cost design, but it can also do this through its ease of accessibility. AI is also becoming popular as a writing tool due to its ease of access, which could potentially eliminate the need for human writers. According to O’Kane (2023), AI has become 4 more popular as a “consumer market” since 2022-23, with movie-goers and TV viewers asking for more AI to be included in their entertainment. Because of this, production studios have not only begun to cut costs using AI, which would have paid their writers, but they have also begun to use AI more often because it is easier to use and they have programs that can literally read its way into becoming more human every day (O’Kane, 2023). This is because the methods that studios use to mine for data, which will be used in their AI projects, are “matur[ing] rapidly” as studios find better and simpler ways of collecting various types of data from the internet (O’Kane, 2023). The more that these AI programs spend gathering and reading user and consumer data, the better these programs become at “replicating human output” at a level that is equal to, if not better, than a human. This use of ‘cost-effective’ AI by studios creates a more practical model for easy access and use by executives, who no longer have to rely on human writers to produce, sell, or be paid for their work. If studios can eliminate the need for human writers due to its AI program, it not only puts writers at risk of financial ruin, it also makes it easier for studios to get rid of writers altogether. After all, it would be simpler to ask a computer to write a script, for free, in a matter of hours, rather than wait six months to a year for a finished product by a human. Because of this, many writers and creative minds involved in the TV and film industry have become exceedingly worried, if not fearful, that they will be completely “devalued”, and, in some cases, completely “replaced” (O’Kane, 2023). This evidence shows that AI is very easy to manipulate in terms of how it is used, not only in its ability to learn a human skill, but also how that learning can be used to completely replace humans in performing that skill. This is why production studios, such as Netflix, often use these programs, not only to circumvent paying fair wages to writers, but also to, potentially, remove their necessity 5 altogether. It is also important to remember that, because of this, there may come a time where movies and TV are 100% machine-produced. 6 References: Holdsworth, L. (2023, Jun 14). We write the TV, radio and theatre shows you love. Do you want robots and AI doing that job? The Guardian https://login.proxy035.nclive.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/we-wr ite-tv-radio-theatre-shows-you-love-do-want/docview/2825408439/se-2 Josh O’kane. (2023, Aug 05). The rise of AI and the labour movement in Hollywood: As unions stand against the might of major studios for fairness and equity against technology, Josh O’Kane reports on the history leading up to today’s battle. The Globe and Mail https://login.proxy035.nclive.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/rise-ai -labour-movement-hollywood/docview/2846045489/se-2 Russell T. Davies and Jack Thorne among writers at UK solidarity march for WGA strike. (2023). Broadcast, https://login.proxy035.nclive.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/russ ell-t-davies-jack-thorne-among-writers-at-uk/docview/2825823353/se-2 7 Stage, screen strife as AI fears rise: Actors and Writers Strike. (2023, Jul 15). Sydney Morning Herald https://login.proxy035.nclive.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/stagescreen-strife-as-ai-fears-rise/docview/2836882938/se-2 World: WGA strikes: Where are the writers' unions in Europe to protect our creatives? (2023, Jun 02). Asia News Monitor https://login.proxy035.nclive.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/world -wga-strikes-where-are-writers-unions-europe/docview/2821393274/se-2