Why Editing is Harder than Writing
Editing is harder than writing for the same reason AI won’t steal your job: transformation.
There is a difference between proofreading and editing. Grammarly can do proofreading. I am talking about really changing a piece. Simmering it down to its pure content and flavor.
Proofreading is easy. Completely transforming a piece is very difficult. I feel like I’m violently wrestling my brain every time I try to transform something I made.
Restrictions make creativity easier
The one thing that makes editing easier is the same thing that makes it harder. Restrictions.
This might sound counterintuitive. According to Hicks Law, users are able to finish tasks easier if they are presented with fewer options.
When you start with a blank page there are no limitations. This is great if you are in a place where you’re getting a lot of thoughts and ideas. It’s also the worst if you feel dry and burnt out. That is usually when I like to do editing.
Fresh eyes
Editing may be easier if you are editing someone else's work or your own work after a few months. Having fresh eyes always makes things easier. Coming back to things over time also elicits new ideas.
I think there’s a reason brands often to chose new design teams to make logos even though they were happy with the old team. It is common sense that getting new eyes on something will bring more new ideas and creativity than using the same person.
While time helps, nothing helps quite as much as bringing a new soul with a fresh mind and unique perspective into the equation.
Why editing requires transformation
Both writing and editing (at least should be) transformative. There are AI writers, editors, and proofreaders. None of them can be transformative.
A good poet will usually borrow from authors remote in time, or alien in language, or diverse in interest.”
— T.S. Eliot
AI may operate the same way as artists. But, can AI (a) be transformative, and (b) match zeitgeist and market demand? Content is a marketplace of its own that is very similar to art in what appeals to humans and their interests.
Technology and creativity
When photography came out, art became abstract. If technical writing is already automated, then abstract and transformative thought pieces could dominate writing in the same way.
Another theory for the proliferation of opinion pieces on Medium could be that medium pays writers only based on traffic from paid members. Organic search traffic comes from searches, generally for information.
Why AI won’t steal your job
AI has completely conquered the internet and has even been referenced by Andrew Yang, a 2020 US presidential nominee. This acronym has become annoying with how much it is being used.
With that said, It puts all of our jobs at risk unless your job is sales or research where human engagement is completely necessary. Well, even that can’t be certain. Chatbots have been replacing customer service agents for over a decade.
Are humans even capable of originality?
There is a common sentiment that all creative works are built on something preexisting. I believe in this idea completely.
“No idea is original… It’s never what you do, but how it’s done.” — Nas
How something is done takes a level of nuance and transformation to make it feel fresh. Personally, I don’t think that AI can’t accomplish this task. At least for now.
AI art uses a database of preexisting art to make new art based on text prompts. AI’s use of art is leading to class action lawsuits. AI art generators and writers act as non-profits but they are stealing from artists and diminishing art and writings value.
Because AI writing is boring and doesn’t bring any new information to their platform, Google discourages the use of AI writers and has implemented AI to identify articles written by AI. That is a lot of AI!
The question is, can a robot actually conjure an original thought? So far it can’t. Until then AI writing won’t is able to conquer regular writing. Also, there are immense moral and legal complications that are still in the woodwork. Can the intellectual property laws around A.I. even be enforced?
The genie is out of the bottle and we should be the ones answering questions.
