Chris Chu Co-Authors Article on AI-Generated vs. Human-Written Stories
Haoran “Chris” Chu, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Public Relations assistant professor, is the co-author of “Your Next Favorite Story Won’t Be Written by AI – But it Could Be Someday” published in The Conversation on Oct. 24.
Chu and University of Central Florida Assistant Professor Sixiao Liu focused on how artificial intelligence (AI) can generate stories that sometimes can rival or surpass those that are written by humans. AI-generated stories could have an impact on jobs and educational institutions.
According to the authors, “Beyond the threat to livelihoods, AI’s ability to craft compelling, humanlike stories also poses a societal risk: the spread of misinformation. Fake news, which once required significant effort, can now be produced with ease. This is especially concerning because decades of research have shown that people are often more influenced by stories than by explicit arguments and entreaties.”
They conducted experiments to explore if AI could tell compelling stories with mixed results. They found that AI can create a coherent story, but stories written by humans included more variety and offered the reader a richer experience.
They write, “We believe four things make stories engaging: good writing, believability, creativity and lived experience. AI is great at writing fluently and making stories believable. But creativity and real-life experiences are where AI falls short.”
They add, “For now, screenwriters and novelists aren’t at risk of losing their jobs. AI can tell stories, but they aren’t quite on par with the best human storytellers. Still, as AI continues to evolve, we may see more compelling stories generated by machines, which could pose serious challenges, especially when they’re used to spread misinformation.”
In addition, Chu and Sixiao’s study was featured in “People Hate Stories They Think Were Written by AI. Even if People Wrote Them” posted in UF News on Oct. 22.
According to Chu, “People don’t like when they think a story is written by AI, whether it was or not. AI is good at writing something that is consistent, logical and coherent. But it is still weaker at writing engaging stories than people are.”
“AI does not write like a master writer. That’s probably good news for people like Hollywood screenwriters — for now,” Chu said.
Posted: October 25, 2024
Category: AI at CJC News, College News
Tagged as: AI, Haoran "Chris" Chu, Public Relations, Storytelling
