I’ll publicly admit that I read all three books in the 50 Shades series; I didn’t even hide the covers. The stories were entertaining and did for me exactly what reading is supposed to do—take me to a different place and experience a world that is not my own.
During a recent conversation in our office, a colleague referenced a paragraph from Ethan Mollick’s book, Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, in which the author cites that generative AI tools learned language by “reading” romance novels, fan fiction, and a plethora of public Enron emails. While this makes logical sense—humans learn from absorbing information from the world around us—without feedback, critiques, and editing, the user is at the mercy of a computer doing its best to piece content together to deliver a product. Without guidance and training, the result is often referred to as beige, which raises the issue of quality and content.
A collection of business emails coupled with a particular subset of fictional works delivering a paragraph or blog post with an accompanying image may be informative but doesn’t capture the author’s voice or generate an emotional connection with the reader. As users of generative AI tools, we are likely limiting ourselves to beige AI responses due to a lack of training and education on how to optimize for creativity rather than information. Perhaps as generative AI develops, humans will learn how to interact with these models for a more unique and colorful output.
Beige writing isn’t bad; most of us wouldn’t recognize it if we read it. But compared to the writing of a talented and creative human, it becomes clear why best-selling authors can constantly draw us in and keep us captive in a world they’ve created. There’s an excellent example of this in Stephen King’s short story, “Two Talented Bastids,” in his recently published book, You Like It Darker. The same scene is written two ways. The first is good—it gives facts and tells the reader what’s happening. The second, though, creates a scene that can be visualized invoking emotion and a sense of ominous events ahead. It’s a clear example of why the human element stays essential in a digital world, even with the availability and encouragement of generative AI tools.
If you’re a writer, no computer will create a story that’s better than what you’re capable of. If you struggle with writing, the myriads of generative AI tools can certainly help if you’re okay with a beige result. If you’re looking to use these tools to the best of their, and your, ability, then a little training can help capture what you’re envisioning and stand out from the fifty shades of beige that many of us experience when using these tools without directive training.
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