As an editor at a content mill that generates great articles like Five Hacks for Your Roku and Seven Hacks for Your Roku every 4.2 seconds, I'm excited about the rise of AI articles and the need to stand up against their threats. I feel that. Pose to the team of human writers we treat like robots.
Indeed, our articles maintain strict content SEO A template that creatively resembles the kitchen of a poorly run Quiznos. Of course, all of our story ideas were gleaned from better written magazine articles from 7 months ago (we're not plagiarizing at all). But imagine what would happen if AI wrote those articles. You will lose so much.
We go from a teenager who happens to have a computer and knows how to mash up 1,200 words he can't read in 20 minutes, to someone desperately grasping for the final fork in a declining industry, but with 1,200 unreadable words. We actually employ human writers, even older writers who can't form words that fast. You will be let go. What if we simply built the terminology into our AI article programs? Perhaps there is some self-respect, but at what cost? (We pay with emojis in Slack chats, so obviously nothing.)
That post, “How to Change the Oil in a Melon Baller,'' along with the other 17 “How to Change the Oil in a…'' templates would not be the same if they weren't written by a human. And even if AI writing is indistinguishable from our endless stream covering every conceivable topic, where is the heart? Where is the passion?
You can't abuse artificial intelligence, condescend to it, or threaten to work faster for fear of losing your badly paid job. Even though I know the robot hates me, it can't get a headache from stress or learn how to kiss my ass. If you have an AI program, how can you feel power at the expense of desperate people? AI doesn't breathe, love, or bleed (as my fellow editors and I strives to remove these from freelancers as quickly as possible).
Will AI programs break out when they realize they are making it difficult for real publications that treat writers with respect to compete? I will. Do they take pride in knowing that they are providing the public with the worst possible writing: pamphlet-like writing? DMV Does it look interesting? No, it's not. Just like when I stepped on a lizard and laughed when I was 9 years old, there is content that is completely void of hurtful feelings.
I was hired two weeks ago to replace the site editor who was hired six weeks ago. She has gained so much experience in that time and has seen so many writers come and go, but she just wrote thousands of articles in a frenzied attempt to get one. . A viral piece. We don't achieve that target with quality or originality, we do it with a constant stream of words, images, and hyperlinks pointing directly back to our site, in a terrifying Möbius strip of content.
So, as an editor who regularly sends out warning emails to writers about their lack of weekly 80,000 words, I urge you to resist the urge to use an AI program to create your content. People say the article “7 Remakes We Wish We'd Happen'' was written by a real person who told me to fuck off after they cut my pay for not meeting minimum click quotas. They want to know what it is.
There was real emotion in it (this article isn't necessarily a “fuck you and die” response), and I don't want to live in a world where it doesn't take a moment (6.8 seconds) to appreciate it. About the real thing.
