Hello,
I’m writing to you as Selena Jammaz. The real-life Selena Jammaz. I feel the need to make this crystal clear after getting a glimpse of what AI writing assistant Rytr is capable of. Check out what I mean by giving my AI-generated story a read:
Once upon a time, on a tropical island far, far away, there lived a mischievous boy named Benny. One stormy night, while Benny was exploring the shoreline, he stumbled upon something peculiar washed up by the waves - a smartphone! Little did he know that this seemingly ordinary device would change his life forever.
Benny quickly discovered that this magical smartphone had a unique ability. Whenever lightning struck, the phone would come to life, allowing him to vlog and share videos with the world. Excited by this newfound power, Benny dubbed himself "The Lightning Vlogger" and began documenting his adventures on the deserted island.
At first, the world didn't pay much attention to Benny's vlogs. But one fateful day, as lightning danced across the sky and illuminated his face with dramatic flair, Benny captured an incredible moment - he successfully crafted a coconut radio! The video went viral within hours, drawing attention from people around the globe.
News outlets picked up Benny's story, hailing him as a modern-day Robinson Crusoe with an unbeatable Wi-Fi connection. Suddenly, everyone wanted to see what Benny was up to on his little slice of paradise.
Benny's subsequent videos showcased his hilarious attempts at building shelter out of palm fronds (he managed to make it look more like a bird's nest than anything else). He taught viewers how to catch fish using innovative techniques like tickling them underwater (yes...tickling!). And let's not forget his epic battles against mischievous monkeys who constantly stole his food.
With each lightning storm that flickered through the island skies, The Lightning Vlogger grew in popularity. Fans eagerly awaited his every upload - constantly refreshing their screens during thunderstorms for signs of new content. Soon enough, brands started reaching out for sponsorship deals and offering him essentials like sunblock (you betcha it came with SPF 100).
But amidst all the fame and fortune, Benny never lost his witty charm and down-to-earth nature. He remained true to himself, always finding a way to make his videos both informative and entertaining. He even used his newfound popularity to raise awareness about environmental issues, encouraging viewers to take care of their own patches of paradise.
And so, Benny's tale of being the social media sensation of a deserted island became the stuff of legends. People from all walks of life followed The Lightning Vlogger's journey, longing to escape their monotonous routines and live vicariously through his tropical escapades.
As for Benny, he cherished every thunderstorm with gratitude because it was during those fleeting moments that he could truly connect with the world outside his sandy paradise. And who knows? Maybe someday lightning would strike and lead him back home or whisk him away on another incredible adventure.
And so, dear readers, keep your eyes peeled for those electrifying bolts because you never know when The Lightning Vlogger might strike again!
I hadn’t previously used an AI-assisted writing tool other than Chat GPT, which I haven’t been particularly impressed by since the outputs lack a human touch. So I went into this exercise with an attitude that Rytr would also be more hype than substance because I don’t believe non-humans can write stories that are able to connect with humans. I also expected it to fall short on its ability to logically organize its thoughts, echoing the limitations mentioned in the Ouyang et.al (2021) reading, from lack of coherence, to irrelevant ideas to missing the “essence of the story,” (p.30).
Surprisingly, Rytr exceeded my expectations. What I appreciate about the tool is that it was able to take a prompt that’s less than 100 characters and turn it into a detailed story that could incorporate the “humorous” tone (such as with the “(you betcha it came with SPF 100)” comment) and a max “creativity level”. It also offers customization to a certain extent by rewriting segments according to your feedback.
I tried it out on a paragraph by going for a “critical” tone:
This was the result:
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Yes, the story was missing a challenge, but I view the output as a great first draft to getting an idea going on my own. And this is just one of the many practical tasks that AI can assist with, yet that are overshadowed by big tech, popular media and science fiction building extreme narratives around AI being scary our saviors (Reed & Cowling, 2022). I myself hadn’t considered how much of an influence that sci-fi and the arts had on shaping the public perception of new tech. With movies like the Matrix, AI is associated with being a frightening threat for our futures, much like what was discussed by David (2022) in one of our readings.
I now have a new view towards AI as being a helper, as captured in an excerpt from a TechTarget article with an analogy about the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”:
“Andy, the human assistant played by Anne Hathaway, whispers useful information about a prospective customer in the Streep character's ear -- and Miller thinks we should let AI technology do the same.”
In fact, the fictional scenarios about the “dashboards” and “admin assistant” in the Andrew (2020) reading got me thinking about how AI can help me in project management at work. With so many different projects piling up, I imagine an AI system linked to my Outlook and Microsoft Teams to update my to-do list in real time and support on reminding me on follow ups and potential solutions to problems.
This opens up a new concern about the preservation of company and client privacy with the incorporation of a new tech system, but that’s a conversation for another day.
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Article Reference: https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/podcast/AI-good-and-evil-as-portrayed-in-the-movies-and-reality
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