Amy Lindgren
Second Sunday Series – Editor’s Note: This is the ninth of 12 columns on AI and work, appearing the second Sunday of each month, from September through August. Last month’s column described AI tools for organizing or conducting the job search, while previous columns looked at interview prep; résumés and cover letters; best practices for companies using AI; tips for using ChatGPT; work opportunities with artificial intelligence; AI use in the hiring process; and an overview of artificial intelligence in general.
We’re three quarters of the way through this series about artificial intelligence and careers and it’s still not clear to me whether AI is a worker’s friend or foe. It’s simplistic to say “Both!” as if that closes the case. Of course it’s both, but how much of both? What’s the balance of friend vs. foe and is it shifting?
Since I understand the writing profession more than any other (because it’s been part of my career path for decades), I’m going to consider the question from that lens — and I can say already, the picture isn’t rosy.
We’ve all seen the articles about artificial intelligence taking over jobs; in the case of writers, the threat is distressingly real. Already I’ve received press releases clearly written by AI. Is the campaign being masterminded by a press agent, or was that person laid off?
How about novels? Some “authors” have been bragging for years about writing several novels a week by turning the process over to artificial intelligence. What happens when publishers learn that trick too, voting to eliminate authors altogether?
Journalists, technical writers, advertising copywriters, textbook authors, song writers … I could name a dozen or more types of writers and they’d all be vulnerable to the threat of artificial intelligence taking their jobs.
Which brings me to ask: Does it matter? Assuming these individuals can find other work, does it really matter who writes the press release or novel? As long as the recipient is informed or entertained or both, what’s the difference how it was produced?
As a society, we’d likely never come to agreement on the answer. But while we were (and are) arguing the point, AI would still be marching forward.
Perhaps the real question is whether we want to march along, or resist and take the risk of being marched over. With reluctance, I’ll vote for the first choice but only with this caveat: I still want to know that writers are being trained to write, regardless of how they’ll integrate their work with technology.
I have any number of reasons for this, ranging from the need to keep unique, human voices in the writing lexicon to the acknowledgment that without the unique voices AI will become nothing but a loop feeding on itself.
For me, however, the most convincing reason for humans to continue writing is the neural pathway argument: Science suggests that writing strengthens cognitive function and critical thinking, and even increases dopamine. And, because writing uses so many aspects of our brain function — memory, empathy, logic — it may helps us stay lucid longer in our lives.
This chain of thinking always reminds me of “Wax on, wax off,” from the Karate Kid movies. The phrase comes from karate master Mr. Miyagi (actor Pat Morita) training young Daniel (Ralph Macchio) by making him repeatedly wax and unwax a car. As Daniel learns later, the motions are teaching him muscle memory, not to mention patience, which become critical assets in his karate practice.
I’ve seen the same thing happen with writing students I’ve taught: Writers who try a variety of exercises eventually develop confidence and muscle memory of their own. They write quickly, develop a voice that “sounds” like them, and learn to anticipate responses from their readers.
Nothing I’ve experienced with AI so far tells me that it builds that kind of foundation for the person using it. I don’t think this gap occurs only in the writing profession. Anyone may find that their job can be conducted by artificial intelligence or robots or both. We won’t be able to out-run this trend, or legislate it away.
But that doesn’t mean we should forget how to do those jobs either. Wax on, wax off. Becoming better at core skills such as writing isn’t ignoring the inevitable –it’s preparing for it.
Come back next month and I’ll continue this discussion with a look at how the pairing of AI with core skills can be a winning alternative in the workplace and in life overall.
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Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com.
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