This may come as a shock, but the original article on ChatGPT was not written by a reporter. Rather, it was composed utilizing the AI software itself. Naturally, as a student studying English with an emphasis in professional writing, I needed to take a deeper look at this new technological development as it has the potential to change the entire course of my career. So I took to my computer and opened up the site I’d been hearing so much about: chat.openai.

I registered for the beta version, which I could use to test the program out. I was surprised at how simple it was to use. I started typing in questions that I knew the answers to and would be easy enough to figure out using a quick internet search. When each question came back, I decided to try and trick it by entering more convoluted inquiries. But again, the answers consistently came back factual.

I decided to put this software to the real test and see if it could write articles. As you’ve already seen, it can. But is it convincing enough to trick people into believing it was written by a human being? That’s what brought us here.

Before running the story, I wanted to test this out on a smaller scale and sent the article to the trusty proof-readers in my life. Overall, the reactions came back that it was a fine article, but wasn’t my best work.

Of course, this was to be expected as while I was toying with different prompts such as, “Write a 500 word article in AP style about ChatGPT and education,” and, “Write a 500 word article in AP style about ChatGPT and education from a negative point of view,” the software was using the same phrases, ideas and transitions. Rather than thinking about the flow of the piece, the AI simply put out the most efficient article possible.

In the end, I do find this software interesting and impressive. However, I do not believe that it can or should replace the human element of writing. While fun to play with, this AI software is simply lacking the nuance that makes writing an art.