As an author and writer, I could easily plug a prompt into ChatGPT and tell it to write a blog post, book or even an essay on something I know little or nothing about. I choose not to.
Artificial Intelligence in BRILLIANT, don’t get me wrong, but when it comes to being creative it is not. “But AI is creative!” I hear you cry, and sure, it is, as long as it has someone else’s idea to begin with. Whether its a picture or some written content, AI needs needs a source. I know full well that some of my work has been used as source material for various AI tools, it’s close to unstoppable at present and in a way I take heart that my work is out there.
Benefits of AI for Creatives
As a so-called “Creative”, the term always makes me feel like a way-out, mellow hippy, AI is a love-hate thing. I hate it because it can write faster than me, I hate it because it can sort of do what I do (without the polish and voice) and it can do some things I can’t. It’s the ability to do the things I can’t do where AI can benefit a creative person.
While my title says “I could use AI…but I don’t”, I do use it to make my life a little easier. I’ve used AI to help schedule my diary and social media, I use it to create small pockets of code on my website and I use it plan book launches – it’s very good at tasks I battle with. I use AI to help with Excel formulas – I know excel can do what I want but just don’t know the command. If I am writing about something complex I can ask AI to simplify things or explain, it makes research easier and then allows my author’s brain to translate it on the page.
With Space Ranger Fred moving toward animation, there is a great deal more STEM education in the stories. AI can help me understand topics such as gravity, magnetism and how things work that bit easier. Giving me easy to understand knowledge helps me translate it into the crazy universe of Space Ranger Fred, ready for kids to soak up.
Choosing to Write Myself
I could easily have AI write for me, I’ve tried it and the lightning fast speed amazes me, but the joy actually writing is lost. My handwriting sucks, that’s a story for another day, and when I first discovered a word processor way back in the late 80s the first thing I wrote was a story. Finally I had a way to pen my thoughts and have anyone read them. AI, though, is a technological step too far losing the bridge between man and text.
I choose to write because I can. Those who choose to write with AI do so because they can’t or are just lazy. It’s harsh but true. My Space Ranger Fred series would not be what it is if AI had written the story. The books would not have won awards and kids would not enjoy them. AI might understand who you are writing for but doesn’t know where you are writing from and that is the reason I choose to write.
Matt Newnham is a children’s book author, dream-chaser, and the unstoppable imagination behind Space Ranger Fred. With a head full of stories and a heart set on inspiring young minds, Matt blends adventure, laughter, and sneaky STEM learning into everything he writes. When he’s not bringing Fred and friends to life on the page or screen, he’s probably scribbling down another wild idea, dodging coffee spills, or convincing himself that cardboard boxes really can become spaceships and that the ability to tie your own shoelaces is really a superpower.
