Is The Future Automated?

CWP- Week Eight

From publishing roles and an amazing presentation on Twilight to the beginning of our venture into examining AI, this week had its good share of questions and thought provoking content. There was also a much appreciated pickle costume, at least by me, and I loved seeing everyone else’s costumes too. 

Summary 

To start off the day, 

We wrapped up content from week seven, including:

• Jobs and processes within the publishing industry, including roles and responsibilities of the publisher;
• A brief discussion on the merit of self-publishing. My group concluded that self-publishing should not be grouped with publishing as a whole;
• Loss and profit sheets and what the statement contains;
• Publishing machinery and terms such as blanket roller, Galley, and ARC.

After the presentation we,

• Discussed the difference between digitalization and automation
• Explored artists and writer’s opinions on the topic of AI

We finally ended off with,

• Intro to periodicals

  We started the discussion of automation prompted by the readings and engaging examples of AI-generated content.

“First, let’s get one thing straight: the publishing sector isn’t just digitizing – it’s automating.”

https://www.the-vital-edge.com/publishing-industry/

After going over several articles comparing text written by humans and by AI, the duality was both interesting and shocking.

https://ideas.ted.com/was-this-poem-written-by-a-computer-or-human/

Below, one of the blog descriptions is mine, the other is from Chat GPT (revealed at the end). To evaluate whether content is written by humans or AI, it turns out you’d have to consider what characterizes “human” writing since the distinction varies in difficulty. I found the poetry difficult. The story with dialogue and characters was more obvious. 

This raises some questions; why are some forms of AI-generated text easier to pick out than others? What advancements will have to be made for all forms of texts to be indistinguishable?

Blog descriptions

• In this blog post, we’re about to unravel the thrilling tale of publishing in the age of automation, where the power of words meets the wizardry of technology. So, fasten your seatbelts, fellow wordsmiths, because we’re embarking on a literary journey into the future!

• In the ever-changing publishing industry, it’s hard to determine what the future will hold. Like any industry that relies on digitization, we must question whether AI and automation will replace and dominate human fields. The prospect of this is not at all terrifying, because AI could never replace such an intricate and creative human practice, could it? The opinions are conflicting. Whatever the future holds, automation is sure to have its role among our own. 

How is this relevant to publishing as a whole?

It was disturbing that the AI-generated introduction held up well against my own. What could this mean for my future career? Or the industry as a whole?

  This class offered a relevant example of the changing and transitional nature of publishing. Important to publishing is efficiency. This drives the altering of systems, roles, processes, and tools. If and when we join the industry, we must be aware of the capabilities and limitations of automation capabilities. Some processes and roles discussed in class may be subject to replacement by AI to improve said efficiency. 

From: https://www.engati.com/blog/chatgpt-memes

With that, I’ll wrap up the post with next week’s expectations and opportunities in the month ahead:

Coming up on November 18th is our fall open house (our opportunity to intimidate newcomers), a great opportunity to encourage students to apply, and offer our support and advice. To prep for week nine, be sure to watch the film, Page One: Inside the New York Times, and complete the assigned reading by George Brock. 

* passage 1 Is chat GPT generated