AI is the technology that simulates human intelligence, i.e., it makes decisions as a human would. Human decisions about software development affect the way decisions are made and integrated into organizational routines. How exactly these processes work needs to be better understood, as they will have a significant impact on the general public in the foreseeable future. AI can start a revolution in human affairs and become the most influential human innovation in history. The most commonly known AI’s are Apple’s Siri, Samsung’s Bixby, and our very own Google assistant, all equipped with speech recognition and programmed for a particular work of maintaining our PC’s, laptops and mobiles.
AI’s today form the backbone of many technological advancements, the field of writing being no exception. When it comes to technical writing, the modern scientific publishing ecosystem relies on the scientist’s ability to perform manual web searches as if it were still 2001. Citations are far from exhaustive, and scientists often do not understand how many similar studies and papers have been published that have in fact described the same thing (possibly with an even better method). AI can help increase the reach of these searches and include all those records that humans simply have no hope of monitoring and digesting.
One of the concerns of most journal editors and peer reviewers is to ensure that they can detect inconsistencies in data, statistics, references, and images in the manuscripts they process. AI can come into the picture here and help report inconsistencies efficiently and precisely. In some areas of scientific discovery and publishing, AI has made the transition from ideas to application.
While AI is on the rise in many industries, the field of journalism has been largely shielded by the fact that machines have long struggled with the intricacies of language. Even with recent advances in deep learning based on big data and better processors, AI has failed to solve this complex intellectual challenge. But now, researchers and big companies like Google and Open AI are approaching a major breakthrough through new text analysis systems. The U.S. today uses AI to create interactive content that becomes an integral part of online journalism. A new editorial category called ‘dynamic editorial’ is using artificial intelligence to scale visual and interactive content. Publishers are currently scratching the surface when it comes to the potential use of AI and machine learning. The Storyfit technology is Artificial Intelligence, which uses natural language processing, machine learning, and proprietary algorithms to tailor solutions for the entertainment industry, especially for book publishers and film and television producers. StoryFit is used by book publishers and consumer engagement specialists, as well as film producers and television studios.
Natural language processing (NLP) helps the AI understand the true nature of the paper and integrate data from external sources (corporate blogs, journals, etc.) to compare it with other relevant studies, including those outside the original discipline. NLP has been used to create a novel, The Day a Computer Writes a Novel, and a Jack Kerouac-inspired poetic narrative of a road trip. Sure, there are still many wrinkles to be straightened before we reach the phase where machines can write with the same ingenuity and creativity as a human, but these developments make one wonder, where does the boundary lie for quality writing?
Of the other AI software available for general public, Grammarly is the most sought after one. With its ability to be integrated into the Microsoft Word, Grammarly lives up to its tagline – Writing has never been easier. However, the importance of human intervention is not overlooked; despite suggestive interface, the choice of acceptance solely falls on the wisdom of the consumer. Microsoft is on its way to challenge Grammarly by coming up with a writing assistant of its own, termed ‘Ideas,’ which will be available with the new Word editions. Ideas aims to help the writer with rectifying basic mistakes plus the entire restructuring of phrases and paragraphs to come up with clear, concise articles that require little to no proofreading. Such platforms extend the joy of writing to people passionate about literary content but deficient regarding its rules. So, what if I told you that the entire content above was written by an AI writer, would you believe it? Who is to say it is or isn’t so? The debate is all too natural. With the inclusion of AI in the scientific community, the general ability of the human mind and the authenticity of the work done comes under question. The ethical implications of the use of AI, though currently farfetched, are still not to be overlooked. Regarding the general fear of replacement of the human workforce, however, there seems to a consensus that the improvement in AI with regard to the emotional inclination a language requires is still a faraway dream. So far, AI’s have been able to achieve smart proofreading, plagiarism check, content assessment, and quick fact checking, all of which help in fast completion of work. In conclusion, AI’s use in writing would be to help finish the work faster and more efficiently rather than totally taking over a human writer’s job.