The modern Digital Age is full of advanced tools and applications, all available from the modern smartphone. In the 1990s, it was unheard of to have a portable device in your pocket that can answer almost any question through the Internet, but here we are in 2025, where that is possible. We can accomplish all sorts of communication and work through our phones, and software engineers have come up with artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT. Considering how effective AI software is in creating written content, people are starting to wonder if it will replace human writers in the coming years. What is the difference between a person writing a news article than a software programmed for perfection? Let’s look into the effect of AI on writing.
The AI software is programmed to be virtually limitless, gathering data from the Internet and conveying it to the answer. Then, people get to learn right away on the topic they want, simply stating the question by speaking into their phone. The way AI is structured in regard to a human brain, in which neural networks and functions are modeled to mimic human thinking. The neural network are perfect deciphering large amounts of data at a time. Considering how effective this process is, human writers will be stuck on the first page. The algorithm network is used to demonstrate the best ways of creating content, comparable to a quick television show. Then, there is the matter of grammar and sentence structure, in which AI can be programmed to mimic Canadian English or American English. This is what machine learning is all about.
Furthermore, ChatGPT has been around and is not going to disappear anytime soon. It has become so intertwined with creative writing that people are starting to worry about it, especially writers. As mentioned earlier, AI allows for faster text and this is what is usually rushed for staff writers of newspapers, books, and social media outlets. For example, a writer has to come up with a blurb to intrigue the reader of the text in question, yet this can be difficult to come up on the spot. This is where ChatGPT plays its part, gathering data from the Internet and turning it into an interesting quip. Taking us back to the origins of the Internet and quick information gathering, ChatGPT is a reminder of how eager and enthusiastic people were in the 1990s about the presentation of information from a click of a button. Now, in a sense, history is repeating itself with AI available with a touch of a button. However, we shouldn’t let it take over our traditional jobs, like content writers. That is why unions, like the Writer’s Union of Canada, are protesting against AI taking over their jobs. It is a fact; AI should be used as a form of assistance to content creators, not an overall replacement of jobs.
Once you understand the true meaning of AI, you can apply it wisely to the text you are writing. Do not rely on AI to do your writing, as you would with other advanced machinery. Emphasize your personal talent and skills, especially if you see yourself as a professional writer, and want to work as such. This is important to know if you want to get a job as a writer, due to the inevitable question that the interviewer will ask. A good response to how you, as a human writer, are different than ChatGPT or a different AI program, is this; “I know ChatGPT can create a whole article with one sentence as inspiration, but I can give the article emotion and feeling, a natural and organic outline.” This is what defines human in writing, sounding natural as opposed to the picture-perfect words of ChatGPT. In the end, it is clear that AI will not take over writing jobs for people, especially with the Union and other protestors in effect. So, let’s continue to hire human writers, and not rely so heavily on AI programming.
Babak Eslami | Writer
