Two weeks ago I wrote a first blogpost about the use of generative AI in writing. Today I would like to come back to this topic and elaborate on the initial thoughts that I shared. Specifically I want share my two cents on where I see some limitations of AI currently lie. Admittedly, AI is constantly evolving and improving, so my perspective is subject to revision at a later date.
One obvious area that I observe that generative AI is lacking in the literary context, is in (human-like) creativity. If you ask generative AI to make up an original story, for example, a Caribbean-style bedtime tale, it will produce a result that is moderately entertaining. However, the story will lack many of the nuances that a human storyteller would infuse. The humor, plot development and cultural dimensions of the AI generated story will inherently be inferior to that of a professional author. Yes AI can compete with the average Joe on the street in composing a basic story. However, I do not believe AI is yet sufficiently evolved to win a creative writing competition, even with the best prompting (from humans). Perhaps the combination of AI wordsmithing with human ingenuity might be sufficient to achieve this feat. However, I am unconvinced that generative AI is up to the task on its own at the moment. Indeed, I ponder whether AI may help us to appreciate more imperfect yet soulful, creative writing from human authors. Kind of like how we value more hand-made goods in a world filled with mass made consumer products.
Another key limitation that I have observed, related specifically to Caribbean storytelling, is the use of dialect or creole in stories. Each island in the Caribbean has its own unique, local dialect, which is either English. French or Spanish-based. A key challenge imposed by these dialects is that they are primarily spoken. In fact, a key feature that they all share is that there is no standardized way of writing them. They can only be ‘approximately’ written using phoenetic spelling. This ultimately means that there are often a myriad of ways of writing the same phrase. For example, in Trini dialect “what’s going on?”or “what’s up?” is often expressed by saying “Wha’s de scene?.” This can be written in countless different ways which may be tricky for AI to comprehend. Just to illusrate this below are no fewer than eleven ways (and there are many more!) to write the same three-word phrase, which all are pronounced the same way when spoken:
1. “Wha’s de seen?”
2. “Wha’s da scene?“
3. “Wha’s da seen? “
4. “Whas de scene?”
5. “Whas de seen?“
6. “Whas da scene?”
7. “Whas da seen?“
8. “Wa’s de scene?”
9. “Wa’s de seen?“
10. “Wa’s da seeen?”
11. “Wa’s da sceene?“
I am unconvinced that AI can handle these nuances in dialect due to the lack of data and the complexity of the syntax of dialect (imagine the complexity involved in phrases composed of many more than three words!). This also makes translation of dialect using AI an absolute nightmare. Often AI struggles to dinstinguish dialect from grammatically poor language. So this can lead to incomprehensible translations of dialect conversations between characters in a story. One might argue that this is a niche area, which may not widely apply to many books. Perhaps its true, but perhaps not. Many languages are casually spoken in practice using slang and dialect (often interwoven with formal, more standard language), which is constantly evolving. Since it is often not written (except perhaps in WhatsApp and Telegram messages, and dancehal music), I am doubftul that the AI has access to sufficient training data to master any Caribbean dialect. It can be done in theory I suppose, if the effort is made, however, it is unlikely to be worth it for such small population groups in the Caribbean region.
So in summary I have pointed out two current limitations of generative AI in regards to story writing, especially in the context of the Caribbean. No doubt AI is a powerful and useful tool. We will have to adapt to its ubiquity in modern life, including the literary world. Thanks for stopping by.
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