AARP Hearing Center
Artificial intelligence (AI) writing programs are growing in popularity as a tool to communicate your thoughts clearly. AI creates an interactive experience similar to familiar online search engines like Google and Bing and smart speaker voice recognition systems Alexa and Google Home.
But AI is taking the user experience to the next level, adding a layer of connectivity and processing accessible data more intuitively to put the words you’re looking for right into your mouth.
With thousands of AI tools entering the market, it is easy to organize, create and learn virtually anything you can imagine with ease and speed. These tools will soon be found in kiosks, robotics, automation and virtual reality to help you craft your thoughts and get what you need more easily.
You can try it now. When you sit down to write your holiday cards, consider enlisting the help of (AI) tools like ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer), Jasper or Copy.ai, among others.
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You may scoff at the thought of using a heartless tool to express personal greetings, but I am betting it wouldn’t be the first time you borrowed a sentiment. Ever buy a Hallmark card or quote an artist or philosopher? If so, then you have used someone else’s ideas. No big deal. This time, the source information is just a little more … synthetic.
Consider Edmond Rostand’s famous play Cyrano de Bergerac, the tale of an unattractive man in love with a beautiful woman but too afraid to tell her so. Instead, he helps the object of the woman’s affection say the words the man cannot think for himself, hoping she falls in love with his superior intellect over the other guy’s good looks. It is the ultimate tale of putting words into another person’s mouth.
Written in 1897, the Cyrano story has inspired many great movies, including Roxanne, with Steve Martin, Darryl Hannah and Rick Rossovich. Other versions include The Truth About Cats & Dogs and Green Book, where a renowned black concert pianist helps his mob-connected bodyguard write love letters to his wife while touring through the Jim Crow South. The story is so ubiquitous that even an AI program called Cyrano.AI touts itself as providing “real-time artificial empathy for customer interactions.”
AI writing tools excel at crafting compelling narratives and captivating prose, but they can only develop with the help of humans who can give the prose creativity and connection. AI best helps you tailor your messaging with your style, tone, audience and theme to reflect your personality, mood, charisma and charm.
I tried out ChatGPT to see if it could work this holiday season. I entered the prompt, “Help me write a thoughtful, loving holiday greeting to my dad.” ChatGPT generated this message:
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