In her now-deleted TikTok video, young adult fiction writer Lauren Kay suggested that up-and-comers use OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the premiere chatbot du jour, to get an ‘objectively’ honest opinion about their writing. Unfortunately, ChatGPT is an inherently biased tool that is not meant for providing critiques.
Despite the fact that many of us would benefit from having a second set of eyes check our work, there are much better alternatives than ChatGPT. For example, humans have the ability to be honest and provide insights into our written works that a chatbot simply can not.
To prove how much better humans are the highlighting potential flaws and issues in a writing piece, Kay “calibrated” the ChatGPT by having it critique one of the “best books of all time: The Fault In Our Stars.” To make matters worse, she used six different criteria to measure her work. The results were ultimately meaningless.
In addition to being unreliable, using ChatGPT poses its own risks. Anything you feed it eventually gets absorbed into its system to train on and imitate. This means that your written works can potentially no longer be yours.
It is not surprising that Kay received a massive backlash from social media users, leading her to apologize for her ill-advised advice.
OpenAI aims to promote responsible usage of artificial intelligence for good. ChatGPT is meant to be a tested tool for its practical applications. Although the tool has its purpose, it is not recommended for critiquing a writer’s work.
Humans have the capacity to accurately and effectively review a piece. When releasing work into the public eye, it is best to get a second opinion from someone who understands the process and literature of writing.
