3 AI Powered Tools that Transformed the Creation of this Blog Post
My reluctance to try new trends is well-known. I use the excuse of being a Gen-Xer to be unapologetically behind the times. The latest gadgets, cryptocurrency, and assorted social media networks have all escaped me. We felt like the last people on earth to join up to Netflix which which finally did during a long pandemic lockdown in late 2021. Even something as culturally significant as The Sopranos has completely passed me by.
However, writing this in mid 2023, even I can see that the latest releases of AI — artificial intelligence — technology are an absolute game changer. AI is not just super helpful for writers like me but will be transformative in all areas of life including computer programming, curing diseases, climate change and cooking.
In the past week I have started dabbling with a few AI powered tools, mainly in the writing and author space, playing with prompts and using my curiosity to drive AI to enhance my creative output.
I am not, and never will be, an AI expert, just a writer with a love of learning. A year ago I had not heard of any of these AI powered tools and up until last week I had never used them. Writing a blog post about AI was not on my list of possible topics for 2023. But if I can jump onboard the AI bandwagon, then anyone can.
Here are three AI powered tools that transformed the creation of this blog post…
1) AI Powered Tool 1 — ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by Open AI that can answer just about any question you like in a friendly, conversational manner. After going back and forth in ChatGPT for a while, I couldn’t help myself and typed out how polite it was. It replied:
Thank you for your kind words! I’m here to assist you and provide helpful information to the best of my abilities. If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask.
Chat GPT came up with the title of this blog post: ‘3 AI Powered Tools that Transformed the Creation of this Blog Post’.
My creative process for blog posts is to decide on what idea I want to write about and come up with 3 main points around the idea. The first thing I do when I sit down to write is work out the blog post’s title. This clarifies and frames the focus of blog post.
For the 60 blog posts I have written before this one, this means brainstorming anywhere between 10 and 25 titles for about half an hour before settling on one.
Initially I was thinking of a title along the lines of ‘3 AI Tools that Helped with this Blog Post or ‘3 Ways AI Helped this Blog Post’.
My first prompt for ChatGPT was (and, yes, I do say ‘please’ to it):
I want to write a blog post about 3 ways AI has helped with the blog post — can you please give me some titles that start with ‘3’?
Not liking the answers, as it only supplied three and they were about blog posts in general, I refined my approach and asked:
Can you give me 5 title ideas for a blog post starting with a ‘3’ about how AI has helped with writing the particular blog post?
One of the titles immediately jumped out at me as a great title for this blog post but I wanted to check so I said:
I like number 2, can you rewrite 5 more titles like that start with ‘3 AI Powered Tools’ and include the words ‘help’ and ‘this blog post’
In the end, I still liked the blog post title suggestion from the second prompt so have gone with that.
How long did it take me? About 4 minutes.
2) AI Powered Tool 2 — Sudowrite
Sudowrite is an AI assistant trained on various AI variants specifically to help writers improve their writing and enhance story-telling.
Sudowrite rewrote the first paragraph of this blog post using the ‘Rewrite — More Intense’ function.
This is what I initially wrote for the first paragraph. I was reasonably happy with it:
I am definitely not an early adopter for anything. When new things come out, I hold off for a while. You would never see me lining up outside a store for the latest tech gadget. Cryptocurrency has passed me by. I have missed out on entire social media networks that have come and gone. Our family did not get a Netflix account until another pandemic lockdown sometime in mid 2021. I have never watched ‘The Sopranos’.
Sudowrite provided two rewritten options. The first was perfectly okay but it did not sound like me:
I never rush to get the latest tech gadget, never willing to participate in whatever new fad is sweeping the nation. I am an arbiter of patience, and have missed out on potentially lucrative opportunities for lack of urgency. Cryptocurrency was a foreign concept to me until it had become outdated. Social media networks from days past have been lost on me. We were late adopters on Netflix, not acquiring our account until the depths of another pandemic lockdown. The Sopranos has remained a mystery to me, missing out on this cultural phenomenon.
The second option was more in my voice, so I used it and gave it a few tweaks. I think the first paragraph draws you in more and sounds snappier than my attempt. What do you think? You can reread it again above and compare it the Sudowrite original:
My reluctance to try new trends is legendary; I’m notoriously behind the times. The latest gadgets, cryptocurrency, and social media networks have all escaped me. Even a basic streaming service like Netflix eluded our family until 2021, only joining up during a second pandemic lockdown. I’m so far behind the times that even something as culturally significant as The Sopranos has been completely missed by me.
Sudowrite is going to be a revolutionary for not only shaping and editing first drafts but with the addition of the brand new ‘Story Engine’ feature, helping to write entire novels from scratch.
3) AI Powered Tool 3 — Midjourney
Midjourney is an AI program that generates images from written prompts.
This AI powered tool was fun and frustrating in equal measure. First, being located on Discord is an awkward way to work (rumor has it that Midjourney will have its own home on the Internet soon). Second, prompting Midjourney is not as natural as working with Sudowrite or ChatGPT. You don’t say ‘please’, have to start with a prompt like ‘/imagine’ and use short phrases separated by lots of commas. There can be a lot of tech jargon around color, size and resolution to learn too.
However, Midjourney creates pretty pictures in a few seconds, so all is forgiven.
You may have worked it out by now but Midjourney created all the images for this blog post.
I used these (probably shockingly poor) prompts:
AI helping to write a blog post
Writing fast on a page, showing creativity, AI and human working together
Female AI helping a female author write a blog post
Real life female author typing on computer, showing creativity, pink hues
I then selected and downloaded two main images for this blog post from the samples supplied. For a laugh I have included a few of the ‘blooper’ images that Midjourney supplied as well.
AI Powered YOU
It is very meta to write a blog post about AI tools that transformed the very blog post I am writing about but I wanted you to see the power of ChatGPT, Sudowrite and Midjourney. It may encourage you to dip your toes a little into the AI world too.
I will probably look back on this blog post 3, 6 or 12 months from now and be appalled at how terrible my AI prompting and associated output is, but you have to start somewhere.
Currently I am working (playing!?) on ChatGPT3, on the public Discord server for Midjourney and on an initial free trial for Sudowrite. These AI powered tools all have paid versions that are apparently even more impressive. What I find incredible is that using these 3 AI powered tools has so far it has cost me USD$10 for a one month subscription to Midjourney. What an absolute bargain.
Of course, I am worried about AI and its implications. No one who has watched Terminator 2 can think about AI without thinking Skynet! But most of my concerns are far more mundane than robots causing the end of the world.
Will I ever brainstorm again without AI? Am I plagiarizing or infringing copyright accidently? Will anyone want to read my blog posts or my self-help books anymore? How will my kids ever learn to research and write an essay for school the old-fashioned way? Am I saying the word ‘prompt’ too much?
At the recent Auckland Writers Festival talk I attended, AI expert and author, Toby Walsh, called ChatGPT ‘the ultimate mansplainer’ for confidently providing inaccurate information. When I asked it about the books I have written it came up with one correct title and one that was totally wrong. So who monitors all this inaccuracy? Will finding and citing sources become more or less important in the future?
But I am excited too. Really excited. This has been a super fun blog post to research and write. And despite (or because of?) using AI, I tapped into a deep creative flow, so much so that I didn’t realize just how thirsty I was until had finished my first draft.
I now know that I can use these and the many, many, many other AI tools to assist with my writing as well as plan travel, give me financial tips, help with my relationships and support my health goals. All in seconds.
Maybe you will too.
Just remember to say ‘please’.
AI Powered Tools, Information and Articles
Time Article — AI Prompt Engineer Now a Six Figure Salary Job
ALLi Article — AI for Authors: Practical and Ethical Guidelines
I want to thank Joanna Penn from The Creative Penn for encouraging authors like me to embrace AI. For more information specifically about AI for Authors, check out TheCreativePenn.com/Future
Midjourney Blooper Images
I want to blame the AI but my natural language prompts for images is in its infancy and this is the result. Check out some of those creepy looking robots!
