Artificial Intelligence in Storytelling

This isn’t the first time we’ve written about AI in storytelling, and it probably won’t be the last given the continuing fervor surrounding so-called generative artificial intelligence, despite the fact that it should be more appropriately called derivative artificial intelligence.  While AI is being used for some spectacular ends, the kind of AI with which people are routinely interacting is, while remarkable in its accessibility, more of an upgrade to preexisting search engine capabilities than it is a revolution.  However, its capacity to give the illusion that it is capable of accomplishing creative tasks has sparked rampant disquiet in “creative” communities, like storytelling, which is why it was so refreshing to see a scientific paper studying whether the use of this kind of AI would improve or detract from a writer’s creativity.

Ultimately, AI is a tool, and even if it is a disruptive one, it is ours to use.  Almost every publication I’ve seen when I’ve looked for places to submit stories now has an “AI policy” forbidding the submission of stories written by, or with the assistance of, artificial intelligence.  While this isn’t a problem for me because I’ve yet to incorporate AI tools into my writing, and I certainly don’t think purely AI works should be eligible for submission since they aren’t really the product of the purported author at that point, I do wonder about the extremity of the prohibition.  Surely, there are productive and useful ways for writers to leverage this new tool to improve their own writing, without undermining the fact that it’s their story they’re telling, not the AI’s, any more than using a search engine to help find information relevant to your story makes it not your story.

The paper examines the comparative creativity of stories written by people who did not use AI, or who had access to AI.  The AI wasn’t doing the writing for the authors, but rather serving as a kind of computer-based phone-a-friend.  The resulting stories were then rated by a coterie of readers.  While it is exceedingly difficult to establish even a semi-objective measurement of something as inherently subjective as creativity, comparing the stories written with and without AI assistance in a kind of blind taste test can at least provide some insight into the impact of AI on the stories in question.

Not surprisingly, the study found that the use of AI in storytelling led to a lowering of creativity in the long run.  Since the AI in question is fundamentally derivative, providing its outputs based on massive synthesis and mimicry of what already exists in its database, it stands to reason that its long-term impact would be towards greater homogeneity.  This is across a vast quantity of content, however.  The more interesting result, to me, is the impact of AI on short term creativity, meaning how the assistance of AI affected individual stories.  Contrary to the common belief/complaint I hear about the impact of AI on creative pursuits, the study found that using AI actually boosted the creative output of the storytellers involved in the study, compared to those who did not use AI.

Now, I’m not saying there aren’t some flaws in the study, or that it provides a single, definite answer to a question that is as much moral and philosophical in some respects as it is scientific.  Measuring stories is an inherently subjective affair, no matter the attempts to objectify it for the study, and there are all kinds of factors for which the researchers could not perfectly control, and which one could argue may have impacted the results.  However, it still represents a start at trying to plumb this intriguing problem in a scientific way, instead of resorting to emotional, instinctive responses.  It certainly raises some interesting considerations.

Will I start incorporating AI into my writing process based on the study’s results?  No.  At least, not at the moment.  I’m not setting out to optimize my writing for an external measure of creativity, and I write because I enjoy the process of writing.  Considering I haven’t even started using these sorts of AI tools to write code for me, there are a lot of other arenas in which I would start integrating it before I would bring it into my writing.  That being said, I use search engines all the time when I’m writing without thinking twice about it, so I could see a day when AI becomes as seamless a part of my writing process.  It’s a tool, not an existential threat.  We’ll be better off if we think about it that way.