New AI Raises Questions On The Future Of Writing

Is just about every job imaginable going to soon be automated? Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has seen massive developments in the past few years, with new improvements now allowing people to have originally generated written content at the snap of a finger, among other things.

PR Newswire published a press release from Jasper, the creator of a Chrome browser extension for an AI writing program:

Jasper makes generative artificial intelligence accessible to businesses and individual creators alike, enabling them to break through writer’s block, create original art, and repackage content for format, language, and tone. The reach and use cases of Jasper are wide and span from individual creatives to large teams at content-forward companies. Jasper has been used to help enterprises scale their content strategies, write and illustrate children’s books, help non-native speakers communicate their ideas more effectively, and enable people to develop daily writing habits.

Jasper’s new browser extension, released for Chrome, enables users to take generative AI with them across the full range of websites and content platforms they use. With the extension, content creators who find themselves stuck can call up Jasper with a single click or keystroke and get contextual recommendations for original content whenever writer’s block strikes. The extension can be found at Jasper.ai and works across Google Docs, Gmail, Notion, HubSpot, Shopify, social media platforms, content management systems and many more content destinations.

The creation of technology so advanced that it allows users to generate a myriad of unique written content at a moment’s notice will likely result in massive ramifications for society at large. How, for instance, can a professor or teacher now assign students a writing piece while ensuring the work came from them rather than another source?

Ethan Mollick, who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, seems to be worried about how this technology could affect the classroom. The professor was quoted declaring, “AI has basically ruined homework.”

Since content generated by AI is original, a professor would not be able to tag a student for plagiarism even if it is not their own writing.

Mike Sharples, Emeritus Professor of Educational Technology at The Open University in the UK, had similar thoughts. The English professor wrote, “Students will employ AI to write assignments. Teachers will use AI to assess them. Nobody learns, nobody gains. If ever there were a time to rethink assessment, it’s now. Instead of educators trying to outwit AI Transformers, let’s harness them for learning.”

Jasper and various other AI software have been rapidly picking up steam as a result of their unprecedented levels of functionality. Various content creators have been highlighting these incredible functions and drawing comparisons between them as a result.

Some people have expressed doubts as to whether these technologies will ultimately prove a net positive to society. PJ Media columnist Lincoln Brown did not seem to be thrilled about the new AI functions, writing, “Today, it is the copy and technical writers and fast food employees whose jobs face extinction,” before hypothesizing that AI will at some point be able to create code on it’s own.

“And then the developers can join the rest of us on the unemployment line.”