Inteligência artificial X autores reais: quem vence essa disputa?

A inteligência artificial generativa é a capacidade de uma máquina realizar tarefas complexas a partir de dados disponíveis na internet. Já bastante utilizada na criação de imagens estáticas e modelos 3D, a IA escritora, que usa como alimento o conteúdo de milhões de livros e textos para gerar conteúdos inéditos, gera discussões e dúvidas em relação ao futuro dos escritores.

Essa semana eu recebi a dica de um site (www.writelyai.com) que, teoricamente, a partir de inteligência artificial (IA), escreveria textos inteiros e até mais, a partir de uma única frase inicial.

Resolvi colocar o site à prova e abri minha conta para o teste gratuito. Uma vez na ferramenta, digitei só a primeira frase, que, por sinal, era uma provação sobre esse tema. Todo o resto foi gerado automaticamente pela IA. Tudo o que eu tinha que fazer era dar um enter a cada parágrafo.

Reproduzi abaixo o texto exato, em inglês, que foi gerado. Não revisei nada, nem uma vírgula sequer. É assustador, mas ao mesmo tempo, achei fascinante! Veja se eu tenho ou não razão.

(minha frase) Today I was surprised by an article stating that AI will replace authors when it comes to creative writing.  (a partir daqui, IA) While this may be true in the distant future, it’s not something we need to worry about right now.

It makes sense that some would believe AI could take over the job of an author: computers are good at numbers and logic, so they should be able to generate creative content too, right? Well, not exactly. Computers don’t understand emotion or creativity very well – yet. It’s been proven time and again that computers are much better at following rules than creating them. That’s why when you write an essay for a computer program like Grammarly or paste your text into the tool at Buzzfeed, you’ll often find that it has corrected words that make sense logically but are not appropriate in the context. AI can’t replace authors anytime soon because it lacks an understanding of how to tell a story and what makes people react emotionally.

I think this misunderstanding stems from the fact that many people don’t really understand how writers work. Many believe that writing is just some sort of magic that happens when you sit down to create a story. But in fact, writing is hard work. It takes hours of research and practice before you can even think about putting words on paper – let alone make them interesting enough for people to want to read.

AI may be able to learn how to write stories one day, but it will take decades of progress in artificial intelligence before we get there. Still, I think it’s worth considering what an AI-written novel would look like. Let’s say that in 2050 an author named Alice has written a novel and put it up on Amazon for sale. You can buy the book, and have it sent to your Kindle, or you can read it online for free. The book is called “The Road Not Taken”, and its description says: “A woman finds herself stranded in a strange land with only one way out – but at what cost? A gripping tale of adventure and romance set in a world where AI reigns supreme.”

You start reading the book and find that it’s pretty good. The story is interesting, the characters are relatable and there are some surprising plot twists along the way. You’re enjoying your afternoon read when suddenly you come across a line of gibberish: “The AI system found her words to be unpalatable and deleted them from the record.” Huh? What happened here? Did an editor accidentally delete this sentence or did Alice write it herself? Reading further, you find out that the…….

E com isso acabou o meu free trial, que me dava direito a 5 enters, e eu fiquei sem saber como acabou a história…. Mas é impressionante, não?

Nessa disputa contra a inteligência artificial escritora, eu já, de cara, jogo a toalha – prefiro me unir às soluções que vêm por aí do que tentar remar contra essa maré que, pelo jeito, vem forte.