During this year’s Google I/O keynote, Google introduced its new AI writing tool, “Help me write”. Unlike other AI tools that assist writers in generating prose, “Help me write” rewrites simple prompts in Gmail and other apps as more polished paragraphs of text. However, polished doesn’t necessarily mean better. The AI-generated responses are formulaic, bland and bloated with excess words that turn human prompts into something that uses more words to say less.
A Linguistic Arms Race
The AI generation reinforces the idea that overenthusiastic US business speak is the required way to write, regardless of whether it’s a necessary skill for the job. While AI writing can help those with dyslexia produce text that is “unfailingly professional and polite,” it limits society’s ability to accept wider variations in how people communicate. It’s a linguistic arms race toward a more boring future.
AI Writing Has Its Limits
While AI writing can be useful in conveying information, its value doesn’t rely on pretending that a human wrote it. Google’s most useful example of “Help me write” involved summarizing a list of dishes people had signed up to bring to a potluck. However, in many real-world situations, AI writing won’t substitute for human work. The AI-generated responses are created almost instantly based on a predictive text system that requires minimal English-language competency, and so far, it can only handle fairly formulaic writing.
In conclusion, AI writing has its limits. While it can be useful in conveying information, it won’t substitute for human work in many real-world situations. Google’s new AI writing tool, “Help me write,” is formulaic, bland, and bloated with excess words that turn human prompts into something that uses more words to say less. The AI generation reinforces the idea that overenthusiastic US business speak is the required way to write, regardless of whether it’s a necessary skill for the job. It’s a linguistic arms race toward a more boring future.
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