Simon WillisonMay 9, 2023

I'd love to hear more opinions on generative AI from people who aren't confident writers

I feel like most of the commentary I see is from people who write with confidence - almost by definition, since writing confidently is an important prerequisite for widely broadcasting your opinions on things

Show threadSimon WillisonMay 9, 2023

I have a hunch that there are lots of people out there for whom the ability to have a computer help them write is a massively valuable thing, but their stories have so far not attracted much attention in the wider AI discourse

I'd love to upgrade that hunch with actual information

Show threadGlyphMay 9, 2023
@simon This feels like one of those things that is aesthetically presented as liberatory but rapidly becomes a stigmatizing class marker, sold only to people who can't tell the difference. Like an MLM. "Finally, the benefit of (owning your own business|confident writing) is available to the masses! It's easy to get started, just pay (your upline|ChatGPT's escalating costs)." But no actual investor is fooled by MLM garbage products and nowhere that requires quality writing will be fooled by LLMs
Show threadSimon WillisonMay 9, 2023
@glyph sure, but there are SO many situations that don't require quality writing: they need clear, boring, uncreative writing that clearly communicates some information
Show threadErica "digifox" Kovac 🌐⚛️⚡
@simon @glyph Yep, and those scenarios in most situations should not require enough filler/bridging material to be any longer than the prompt you provide to ChatGPT. If they do, we should fix that.
May 9, 2023 at 7:48pmWeb
Show threadSimon WillisonMay 9, 2023
@digifox my hunch is that reqching less confident writers how to use ChatGPT is a lot more realistic than convincing society as a whole to stop requiring formal letters!