Artificial Intelligence
What Writers Can Learn from Chess Enthusiasts
AI Could Lead to New Possibilities
When IBM chess computer Deep Blue beat grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997, it would be understandable to predict the end of chess as we know it. Why would we care about human chess if humans are no longer the best at chess? Yet while computers have gotten stronger and stronger over the last 25 years, chess is more popular than ever. How is this possible?
One factor in the rise of chess is certainly the COVID-19 pandemic. With people spending lots of time at home, many inevitably turned to chess. They wanted a distraction from fear and the horrors of the outside world. But I believe there is another major factor at play as well.
Chess computers have created exciting new possibilities for chess enthusiasts that have never been seen before. While I do not advocate for playing only moves computers think are best, many computer ideas are novel and exciting.
For example, some chess computers have traditionally cared a lot about material (winning/losing pieces) and not as much about other important factors like piece activity (potential to attack) and king safety (potential to defend). Stronger computers, however, have been more willing to sacrifice material for exciting while justified attacks. One game in this video shows a supercomputer giving up four pawns to another supercomputer only to build up pressure and decisively win later!
It is not only computer chess moves that are exciting either. Powerful computers have allowed us to analyze our moves — before and after our games — to see what worked and what went wrong. By analyzing our games with computers, we can develop a deeper understanding of chess and how to play at a higher level.
Similarly, other computer tools can also help us prepare for future games. For example, online chess puzzles allow players to get better at seeing and implementing tactics. Online lessons allow us to get better at any aspect of the game anywhere in the world. Instead of leaving chess to the realm of computers, people have utilized computers to make human chess better.
Crucially, the chess community also has rules about when we are allowed to use computers in chess and when we cannot. If we always allowed ourselves to use engines when playing chess, our matches would be completely devoid of the human element. If we never allowed ourselves to use engines, however, we would be missing out on the potential of computers to enrich the chess landscape. With our current system, we have managed to integrate positives from both worlds.
While nothing is certain, my hope is that writers will adapt to AI in a similar manner. If at all possible, we should combine AI and our human voices, using insights from AI writing to make our own writing better. To be clear, by combining I do not mean mere copying and pasting, which is understandably frowned upon and in many cases banned. We should have rules for when we are allowed to use AI and when we are not.
Today’s writers could use AI primarily as a way of getting inspired or unblocked. When feeling stuck, hearing other ideas can often help us develop or further our own thoughts about a topic. What could be better than a limitless supply of ideas and thoughts as a stimulus for the creation of a new voice? As long as AI texts are cited and differentiated from our own writing sufficiently, why not use AI as your personal muse?
AI could also help writers improve our work via proofreading tools, assistance with creating citations, and even personalized writing suggestions. If we use our new technologies with care, style, and good intentions, AI could be a benefit to our writing rather than a curse.
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