What you need to know about writing with AI + Who wants to publish a travel book?
“Computers are dumb. They only know what you tell them.”
Agree or disagree?
While I agree, I can’t take credit for this line—it’s actually from Jeff Goldblum’s character in the ’80s horror flick The Fly (which I just happened to re-watch last weekend—it’s even scarier and gorier than I remember!).
As a book coach, editor and ghostwriter, I get asked about AI—A LOT. My answer is usually along the lines of what I tell my 11-year-old twins when they bug me about getting cellphones so they can go on Snapchat with their friends: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
As someone who approaches most instances of human hubris with what I think is a healthy degree of skepticism, and as a fan of stories of science gone awry—such as in the case of The Fly, or one of my all-time favourites, Frankenstein—I admit I undoubtedly have a negative bias toward many technological advances.
Still, I do see some positives for AI. First, let me outline my caveats:
1. AI does not create. It only regurgitates. Sure we could go down the vinylphile’s rabbit hole and list off the number of music artists who “borrowed” from earlier albums and artists and adapted it to create their own fresh twist. What’s important to remember here is that AI is drawing on sources outside of it—which means when you ask it to create original content for you, there’s nothing original about it.
2. Likewise, I warn my clients that when they use ChatGPT, they could be putting their well-earned ideas into a content soup that Chat can then spit out to any other user…in the world. Therefore I caution against inputting any material you’re protective of before you widely publish, register or trademark it, to maintain your ownership as the originator of said content.
3. As an example, I recently wrote a fake travel article to play with ChatGPT and see what it could do. It actually wrote a fantastic article. It was well organized, well researched and eloquent. Problem was, when I ran the article through a plagiarism detection software, I discovered numerous instances of plagiarism, which—in Canada, anyway—is against the law.
So, where do I see AI fitting in for the people I work with?
1. AI is a brilliant tool to repurpose, repackage and redistribute your content. I’m really excited about the opportunity to use AI to slice and dice my content bank and redistribute my already published content through AI-generated video/audio snippets and social media bites.
2. I found Chat to be supportive as a template-generating tool. For example, I had Chat produce a screenplay for me so I could have my screenplay properly formatted. I then took that template offline to repopulate with my own story.
3. I think AI is great to help create things like newsletters and social media for people who don’t have a lot of time or don’t think they’re great writers. If it’s not proprietary content per se, but rather messaging around an upcoming offer, etc., then I think things like Chat can save a lot of time and headaches.
Most early adopters will tell me, this is happening whether I like it or not, and the sooner I get onboard with the technology, the more I increase my chances of survival in the new age of AI.
Maybe.
But looking at the younger generations and what they’re facing in their future—job loss, dopamine and serotonin disruption, the mental health crisis—I’m not so sure.
Personally, I still enjoy a good hardcover book ;)
Cat xo
Do you want to write a travel book?
Fun fact: I used to be a travel writer, spinning stories about the hottest hotels, restaurants and destinations around the world. Talk about being wined and dined!
I still have the travel bug, though it’s now reserved for places I know my kids will enjoy. (Picky eaters and a 3-hour, 7-course meal? I’ll pass ;)
So I thought it would be fun to combine my love of travel and books for a FREE online event covering how to write and publish your travel book.
Featuring travel authors and publishers, this panel will show you:
-What publishers today are looking for in a travel book and author
-How to attract an agent and that dream book deal
-What you need to know about self-publishing your book
These are just some of the questions we’ll be answering in my upcoming FREE online event How to Write and Publish A Travel Book, which I’ll be co-hosting along with KITI Social, a community for travel media, PR, brands and tourism businesses.
Whether you want to write a travel book, have another non-fiction book idea or are curious about what it takes to get an agent, publisher or self-publish your own book, this event is for you.
RSVP HERE and let your non-fiction book publishing dreams take flight.
PS: The event takes place on Friday November 3, 2023 at 12pm EST, but when you register up you’ll have access to the replay. Join us live for the chance to post your own questions in the chat and we’ll try our best to get to them!
Using AI to Spark Creativity
The topic of AI came up a lot during my interview series: The Future of Content Marketing. One fun interview I had was with guest David Baker, founder of Bspōk, which is focused on supporting unknown artists using Web3 technologies. In our chat, David spoke about content marketing in Web3, the future of influencer marketing, as well as the possibilities of Chat GPT and other AI tools for unleashing creativity, ingenuity and innovation in all spaces, and for all ages. Click here to watch the interview, and if you like it, please Like and Subscribe to my channel for more!