AI

Are You “On the Fence” Too?

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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When I am writing, I sometimes get a prompt to write with Co-pilot. I assume it is some form of AI assistance, but so far I have not used it.

This week I went online to get more information on this writing “tool.”

Here’s what I found:

The goal of Micro-soft is to aid writers in setting up their pages and drafts, simplifying their work processes, and saving them time. It can improve the PowerPoint experience for readers, create lists and pages in OneNote, organizes content, gives suggestions, and so on.

So why do I resist this kind of time-saving help? 

Like a lot of you, I’m wary of any kind of AI “help.” It just feels like “cheating” to me. After all, how will I know where I “end” and Co-pilot begins?

What if Co-pilot takes all of the fun and creativity out of my writing?

I’ll probably remain on the fence on this one for some time. Please share your experiences with AI and the writing process.

Were You “Assisted”?

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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Authors, when you submit your books to Amazon for publishing you’ll see a question asking if AI was involved in your project.

I am sure everyone knows better than to let AI write their book. However, there are two terms you need to be aware of in case you have had a little help with your cover, a book description, and so on.

  1. AI Assisted means:  Used to edit or refine; brainstorm ideas.

    2.  AI Generated: Totally done by AI. Conception, writing, etc.

    KDP wants to know. Be honest up front. It is not clear whether you are “docked” in some way for using AI or not. 

    Bears a little more investigating… stay tuned!!!

    To Bot or Not

    Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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    Yesterday morning, I actually got an email message from a BOT. The purpose of the email was to entice me to enter a writing contest. I wondered what a Bot is capable of doing and if Ai and Bot are the same, or different.

    I was surprised that there were lots of articles on this subject online! Here’s what I found:

    Even though the media often uses these two terms interchangeably, they really are different. 

    Bots (short for robots) are software applications designed to automate tasks and perform specific functions without human intervention. They are programmed to interact with users or other software systems to carry out predefined tasks.

    For instance, chatbots are used to simulate conversation with users. Social media bots can “like” posts and “follow” users.

    So, while Bots excel at repetitive tasks, that leaves Ai (which possesses intelligence) to deal with situations regarding thought and learning. They can analyze data, problem-solve, and make decisions.

    Bots and Ai can manipulate discussions and influence public opinion. They’ve even been known to spread misinformation. 

    Even though we’ve been told that AI systems are designed to assist and enhance human productivity, not replace humans, I think we’d be prudent to interact cautiously with them.

    While writing this blog post, one of these has tried to rewrite what they “thought” to be typos and suggest endings to various sentences.  Over and over again, I had to “insist” on the wording I wanted.

    I don’t want this kind of “interference” in my daily work. How about you???

     What Do Readers Want in 2024???

    Posted on by Brenda Poulos

    If you are an author that writes according to the trends of the reading audience, I suggest looking back at what the most popular trends were in 2023 and take your writing in one of those directions.

    Remember, however, popularity of genres change from year to year—even season to season.

    So you may want to stick with your current genre or try your hand at one of these rising stars:

    Romance was #1, again! (No surprise). However, a new kind of romance has taken readers by storm in the last year or so. It is called Romantasy (Adult Romance Fantasy). Other new twists were Sports Romance and Dark Romance.

    Also, rising to popularity are stories about robots and other AI-related.

    Crime fiction always gets lots of readers, but a new twist are those whose targets are authors. Yikes! (An upcoming movie soon to be on the big screen—if you are interested— is on this very subject).

    I don’t want to forget to mention memoirs, satires, and short story collections.

    Finally, this one might surprise you. There seems to be a resurgence of re-reading favorite books.