The Rise of AI

A child of the 70s, I remember watching Terminator when it came out. Side note: Of the dozens of times I've seen the movie, I still look away during the scene where the Terminator cuts out his eye. Anyway, I'm well-versed in what happens when we let machines take control... at least when it comes to the movies. And don't even get me started on the three book series S.M.Stirling wrote as sequels to the first two Terminator movies. Sooooo good!

Rise of Skynet aside, the rise of AI is now everywhere I look online. From Facebook's Meta descriptions, to Amazon's AI summaries of reviews, and, well, everywhere else.

The anti-AI camps are very, very loud. And while there are plenty of pro-AI camps as well, many folks are staying silent, quietly using AI and saying nothing. Why? Because cancel culture is in full swing. And it is truly terrifying to think that some random anti-AIer could come along and say, encourage others to run a one-star search and destroy campaign on an author who they think uses AI.

AI is powerful. It's useful. And its limitations are rapidly disappearing with each new iteration.

As an avid listener of Jo Penn's podcast, The Creative Penn, I listened to those first AI-positive podcasts and realized it absolutely was the future. Even so, I barely dabbled, reluctant to start on yet another learning curve in the middle of so many other things. Still, I listened, occasionally dabbled, and watched as the iterations grew better and better and BETTER.

The future is here.

That said, let me tell you how I use ChatGPT (which is currently my go-to):

• Book descriptions - I upload my entire manuscript and ask Chat to create a book sales description

• Marketing/SEO - I also ask it for a list of keywords with and without hashtags (for easy copy/pasting), search engine summary, ads, and more.

• Image generation - Book covers, chapter art, short story images, characters in my stories, graphics for non-fiction books, heck, I might even re-design my author logo!

• Emails (for business, introductory emails, marketing my books to libraries, podcast queries)

• Fact-checking - Did some post on Facebook strike me as incorrect? Check it for accuracy.

• Business Legitimacy - Did I see an ad for clothing or furniture or other items for sale and want to see if the business website is legit? Ask ChatGPT, it will pull from multiple sources to correct.

• Product Support - I was having trouble figuring out how to change a character sheet template in Scrivener, so I asked ChatGPT and it gave me step-by-step instructions on how to fix it.

• Goodreads Giveaway advice - I recently attended a training session on expanding my presence on Goodreads and was wondering how I could pair a Goodreads giveaway with the start of my Kickstarter, and when I should time it for. ChatGPT gave me dates, as well as step-by-step directions on creating the giveaway and verbiage to include in it.

• Scheduling routine appointments/finding medical provider - I needed to schedule a mammogram and had used St. Luke's in the past, but recently got a notice that they might no longer accept my insurance, so I asked for a "list of mammogram providers in my area that accept Cigna." A second later I had that and their phone numbers. Easy peasy.

• Geographical details - In the midst of writing a scene, I needed to fact-check several locations, which continent were they on, by which ocean? Clearly answered, with additional details should I need them.

• Tell me about...- A guest left alkaline water, so I asked ChatGPT for a list of benefits, I queried side effects of sleep apnea, learned about the pros and cons of sugar substitutes, and on and on.

• Alternate Scene Ending - And when I was struggling with the ending of a particular scene, I asked ChatGPT to generate a few suggestions. Consider it a mental nudge, or something a group of fellow writers might do for you, but right away instead of waiting for the monthly writer's group meeting.

• Blog Posts - And no, I didn't ask ChatGPT to write this blog post. Although if I did, I'd likely write, "based on my chat history, write me a blog post detailing some of the ways I use ChatGPT" - I'll bet it would be giving me a list pretty close to the one above!

• Edits (sometimes) - I dabbled in having it edit a chapter. The problem? It wants to cut my words in half. Now this is either a comment on my writing style (seriously ChatGPT, am I really too wordy?), or something that will get fixed, but either way, I don't like it. LOL! However, edits on a smaller scale, a "rewrite this sentence for clarity/repetitive phrasing" can be quite useful

And if I were writing to market, which I am not, ChatGPT could even tell me the current hot genres to write in and give suggestions on sub-genres that readers are currently devouring.

All the things I hated? The things I felt incompetent at? ChatGPT handles in seconds. Which means I can do more of what I love... write. Meanwhile, my SEO is now neatly handled, my ads and images, and so much more.

In short? AI is:

• Saving me hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in book cover, sales descriptions, and marketing advice each year.

• Saving me TIME. Time I don't have to spend looking things up. That's HUGE.

And the potential is there for even more. AI agents, it sounds fascinating, but it will wait until I've fully adjusted to just using ChatGPT, which is basically my new search engine. One that, for the moment, is blissfully without ads, which I hate.

So when the anti-AI folks start freaking out, try to remember that this is a tool, much as the train, car, airplane, printing press, pen, gas and then electric lights, typewriter, and computer (and so much more) once were. New and scary, for sure, but ultimately an amazing and transformative change for our world.

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