My perspective is that AI shouldn't be used in any form of writing. While I wouldn't say that AI is completely useless (my family advocates for using it to 'make life easier' and I seem to be the only anti-AI person in my family), the only thing I use it for is as a more specific search engine than google. Even so, I really don't understand why anyone would use it for academic research. I once tried an experiment to get Chatgpt to quote a judge's opinion from a case and it made up a quote. After three times of telling it that its quotes were false, and to try again, I gave up and called the AI a pathological liar. The message said I was using a term that violates their code of conduct.
As for creative writing, I agree that no information should be added 'just for the sake of it'. I like stories that filter its description through the eyes of a protagonist, like how a rich character may look down on a fancy restaurant for not using the right silk tablecloths, whereas one with a poorer upbringing would marvel over the spotless plates. Descriptions are also used to further character or plot, or create atmosphere. What a character wears shouldn't be so unimportant to be delegated to AI since it forms your opinion of the character; same with their house, city, etc. And setting details are important; the principle of Chekhov's gun is an example of that. Even if we are not too concerned with the individual details, when combined, they have to paint an overall, consistent picture. A dimly-lit room with floorboards that creak and shadows that seem to shift against the walls casts a very different atmosphere from one with a fireplace, plush sofas and a table with flowers in the centre.
From a social pov, using AI might seem like a time-saver for drafting emails, but I've seen people use it for text messages, social media posts, and even speeches at events. To me, it feels like we're giving up the thing that makes us human. Such words should be written from emotion and memories, not an algorithm. Are we really letting AI take over our relationship with others? Besides, it makes people reliant on using AI, which gives those companies a lot of control.
Now, onto the larger world impacts and legal side of things, because I wrote an essay on IP law and AI. The existence of AI severely weakens the protection any creative has over their own work. One example of this is the Getty Images case - AI produced images that closely resembled Getty Images' pictures, even with a blurred symbol at the corner that is pretty much a distorted version of Getty's watermark. But here's the catch: the AI company in question could use their images without purchasing a license, and even create a rival business generating AI images based on Getty's photographs, all of which was considered legal. That's because AI needs vast amounts of data in its training stages and if it has to respect copyright and IP laws, then its progress would be significantly hampered, possibly leading to the death of AI corporations. So, academics believe it is unlikely that AI would be forced to comply with current IP laws anytime soon. A more relevant case is Writer's Guild, where many authors have stated that they never gave consent for OpenAI to use their work in its AI training process (they had evidence of asking ChatGPT specific questions about their book, which it could answer accurately). They sought compensation for loss of earnings as many of them lost out on copywriting, article writing or other similar jobs due to AI. A few even claimed for loss of reputation, as AI had attributed 'garbage writing' to the name of published authors. Anyway, I wouldn't ramble on since I realize how long this textwall already is, but AI essentially appears to be leading to the theft of creative works.
