A Thoughtful Look at Artificial Intelligence for Writers
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I am thrilled at the opportunity to delve into the fascinating realm of artificial intelligence that has captivated the world with its boundless possibilities and challenges.
My goal is to demystify the fundamentals of artificial intelligence. When properly used it can empower and inspire us as writers.
Everything we will cover here falls under the broad category of Generative Artificial Intelligence. Unlike traditional AI models that are designed for specific tasks, such as classification of data or prediction based on data, generative AI models are capable of creating new content, such as images, videos, text, or music. This is the part that scares people.
You can hardly turn on the news without hearing something about AI. Mostly the reports are about AI putting someone out of work, helping someone cheat, or the need for regulation.
It seems to me that there are more negative reports, driven by fear, than positive reports on how AI can help people.
I could talk all day about the fear-mongering and what our fearless leaders intend to do about it. But that’s a blog for another day.
As I mentioned earlier, generative AI models are capable of creating new content. This new content can take many forms, such as images, videos, text, or music. The first type we will look at generates images from a text prompt. In the past, your only options for an image were to take the picture yourself, find a suitable image on the internet, or pay a graphic artist to create one. You can now create a wide range of images in seconds using a generative AI.
I recently published my first novel. I wanted images of all the major characters to use in promoting the book on my website, in newsletters, and on social media. The image to the right is one of those characters.
I could spend all day talking about the value of having images of the characters in your book. You could print them out, frame them, and look at them for inspiration as you write. You can use them to promote your book on your website, blog, newsletter, or social media. You can include them in promotional flyers and posters. The bottom line is simple. Creating your own images will open new doors enabling you to promote your book in new and exciting ways.
Another great use of this type of generative AI is to create a nice book cover.
This background image was created in a total of 10 minutes using the prompt “Ground-level cityscape suitable for the cover of a crime thriller.”
Once created, just download the image into a photo editor to crop and add the title.
Of course, adding the spine and back cover is a bit more complicated but it’s a great start.
With a little time and practice you can create quality, custom images of both the characters and the scenes in your book.
There is one more really cool thing that this type of generative AI can do.
It can create videos. It’s a lot easier than you think. You just select a background you have created. Select the character and pick a voice from the many available within the application. Next, you type in the dialogue, push the button and the application produces a video. There is a little more to it than that, but, overall, it’s not hard.
Below is a one-minute video I created to promote my book on my website. Please pardon my shameless promotion of my book but it is a great example of what’s possible using this technology.
This is by no means a thorough presentation of the full capabilities of this type of generative AI. But hopefully, it has piqued your interest. I am fascinated by it and have only scratched the surface myself.
I encourage you to investigate what is available and find one that works for you.
It has been my pleasure to offer a thoughtful look at artificial intelligence for writers. I thank you for taking the time to read it. That means a lot to me personally.
If you have something to add or your experience has been different, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.