The rise of AI and the decline of good writing
My passion for good writing, clear communication and technology over the last few decades has let me to some conclusions. One which is that artificial intelligence technology is as big of an industry disruptor as social media has been to marketing. The future of AI has arrived with breaking headlines like “ChatGPT passes exams from law and business schools” and “We used AI to write about CNET writing articles with AI” ripped right out of today’s news. It is not just hype, but the real-life use of AI and AI services that allowed one person or one business to write content quickly.
As an example of current AI use, both residential and commercial real estate brokers are using ChatGPT to write social media content, real estate listings, as well as other marketing material. It raises critical questions about what makes for good writing, what is the cost of poor writing and how does AI fit in. A study 2004 study, although dated, estimated that American businesses spend over $3 billion dollars correcting defects created by poor writing.
The AI industry projected to reach $1.6 billion in value by 2030
Already, AI helps to power writing tools like Grammarly and Wordtune in an AI industry projected to reach $1.6 billion in value by 2030. AI like Jasper and ChatGPT have limits, one limit being that it is expensive and needs a cloud service to operate effectively. In addition, it can generate wrong answers with a convincing body of evidence to support its conclusion. For example, one ChatGPT created a rational and believable argument as to why a kilo of beef weighs more than a kilo of compressed air. However, what it can do and what it has the potential to do is enough for Microsoft to decide it is worth a $10 billion dollar investment and announce plans to incorporate it into its Bing search engine.
In a surprising first, the United States government beat both Microsoft and Google to the punch in terms of announcing major support in adopting AI tools and bringing AI powered solutions into public consumption. On December 2, 2020, former president Donald Trump signed into law the National AI Initiative Act which was a result of his February 2019 executive order to push the research and development, use, and training of artificial intelligence on a federal and American industry level.
The public has caught on to how valuable AI tools and AI powered solutions can be. Perhaps, AI may be too valuable of a tool according to some educators and schools who have begun to ban the use of AI. Students at elementary through university levels are utilizing AI like Jasper and ChatGPT to write essays and conduct research. Recent articles from sites like The Guardian, The Atlantic, PBS, USA Today and Forbes describe the struggle educators and parents are having detecting whether a student or AI has written an assignment.
While new tools are being developed to detect AI generated content, educators and business leaders are still concerned about students and employees being able to generate quality content and that means good writing.
Since that 2004 study took place, business, educators, the government, and organizations have applied various solutions to address the issue of poor writing and some of the culprits that led to the trend of poor writing have been identified.
However, where are we now with the trend of poor writing? Has the costs to correct poor writing increased beyond the $3 billion and if so by how much? Perhaps even more critically, how do business view the rise of AI tools and solutions in addressing poor writing and what does it mean for those entering writing centric fields like public relations and journalism? The Commission on Public Relations Education suggest that now more than ever, an in-depth study is needed to answer questions like those and more.
AI is not just a technology fad like the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT’s celebrities spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on when everything labeled as “crypto” and “blockchain” dominated the news cycle a year ago. Unfortunately, poor writing is not a fad, but a decades old declining trend that has cost business billions of dollars a year to address. As the reliance on AI for generating written content continues, its impact on the trend of poor writing may be deeper than anyone may realize.