The Writers' Strike: A Last Hurrah Before AI Claims the Pen?

By Charlie G. Peterson, IV, NorthStar Intelligence

When the Writers' Strike meets the AI Revolution: A Tale of Two Worlds Colliding and the Inevitable March of Progress

In a dimly lit café, where the aroma of freshly brewed coffee mingled with the scent of old books, a group of writers huddled around their laptops. They were the modern-day scribes, the keepers of stories and the shapers of public opinion.

​Yet, as they passionately discussed the ongoing Writers' Strike, demanding better pay and job security, I couldn't help but feel a sense of impending obsolescence in the air.

You see, I've spent years unearthing ancient relics, decoding the wisdom of civilizations long gone. I've seen firsthand how the wheel of time spares no one, turning yesterday's innovations into today's antiquities. And as I delve into the world of office technology, I find myself standing at the crossroads of history and the future, pondering the same question that has intrigued me since my days as an archaeologist: What endures, and what fades away?

---

AI will increasingly replace repetitive jobs, not just for blue-collar work but a lot of white-collar work. But that's a good thing because what humans are good at is being creative, being strategic, and asking questions that don't have answers." - Kai-Fu Lee, Computer Scientist, Entrepreneur, and CEO of Sinovation Ventures1.

​Across the city, in a sleek, glass-walled office that seemed more like a spaceship than a workspace, a team of engineers were busy fine-tuning ChatGPT, the chatbot that's been making headlines and stirring debates. Steven Pinker, the renowned psychologist, had recently declared it "truly impressive," suggesting that it could displace humans in intellectual endeavors like writing. The machine, powered by a large language model, was learning at an unprecedented rate, adapting and evolving like a living organism.

​The skeptics, of course, were many. Journalists like Mike Feibus argued that AI could never truly replace human writers. They believed that the art of writing was too nuanced, too deeply rooted in human experience to be replicated by a machine. But as someone who has seen the remnants of forgotten technologies, who has held in her hands the tools that were once considered revolutionary, I can't help but wonder: Are we underestimating the tides of change?

Feibus and others argue that AI can only borrow from human creativity, that it can't invent fresh expressions or observations. But isn't that how all great innovations start? By building upon the wisdom of the past? The more mistakes we identify in AI, the more it learns, the more it evolves. And evolution, as history has shown us, is relentless.

As a tech journalist with a foot in both the past and the future, I find myself both excited and wary. Excited because the possibilities are endless. Wary because I know that every technological leap we make is both a nod to our past and a step into an uncertain future. The writers in that café, engrossed in their discussions about the strike, may not realize it yet, but the ground beneath them is shifting. And as it shifts, we must ask ourselves: What will we carry forward, and what will we leave behind?

So, as the debate rages on, as writers picket and engineers code, let's not forget the lessons of history. Let's remember that the wheel of time keeps turning, and as it turns, it brings with it new challenges and new opportunities. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but is it mightier than the algorithm? Only time will tell. But one thing is certain: As we stand at this crossroads, the choices we make will shape not just the future of writing, but the future of humanity itself.
​
In this unfolding narrative, the Writers' Strike appears less like a pivotal moment and more like a poignant echo from the annals of history—a last stand, perhaps, but one that signals the beginning of a new chapter. And as we turn the page, let's do so with both caution and courage, for the story is far from over, and its ending is yet to be written.

---

Charlie G. Peterson, IV

At NorthStar, I see every technological advancement as a bridge between epochs. In each article, I aim to honor our past's ingenuity while heralding the promise of tomorrow's innovations. - CPG

---

Sources:

1. Will ChatGPT replace human writers? Pinker weighs in. - Harvard Gazette ↩
2. AI won't steal your writing job (but it will change it). Here's how - USA Today ↩ ↩2 
3. AI and the Workforce: 24 Insightful Quotes About AI to Reshape Your...URL: AI and the Workforce