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LM: #383: Your weird version of right
AI is solving equations and passing exams. Getting it right is no longer scarce.
But that is in domains where there actually is a right.
After sitting in a room by myself writing books for fifteen years, I have found the “correct” way to write. Often when I read something, in the background I am thinking about how it’s written wrong, and how I would correct it.
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It’s only my opinion, of course. There is no correct way to write. But to me, there is. I have my weird version of right.
I have very specific ideas about building and releasing tension, withholding information until the moment of maximum impact, what words with what sounds should be put down in what order.
For every word choice, every paragraph break and em dash, and every thing I’m not saying in a given sentence, I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about why I did it that way.
No matter how much I wrestle with an LLM, explaining why I make the choices I make, it will always write glaringly, embarrassingly, unequivocally wrong (to my eyes). AI will never write like my weird version of right.
That doesn’t guarantee my success as a writer. There’s a whole lot of luck in creative work. But I do believe that gives me a better chance of doing anything worthwhile than a field where there really is a right answer.
As getting it right becomes cheap in domains where there are answers, it becomes more valuable to have your weird version of right in domains where there aren’t.
Book: The Bachman Books (Amazon) is a collection of novels from, and the story behind, Stephen King’s secret pen name.
Cool: It’s so handy to carry with you an iPhone battery pack (Amazon)
Best,
David
