The number one thing I hear from people in a lot of my writing groups is, “Why would I pay money for an expensive editor when AI can do it for free?”
Sure, it’s true to some extent that AI can be useful. An AI program can point out a few technical errors here and there. It has been fed a list of conventions and rules to follow, which works well if you aren’t too fussed about the final outcome as long as it “looks good”. And it might – technically. But writing isn’t always about the technical skills.
Fiction breaks rules. It’s allowed to. It’s creative, not constrained. How boring would it be if everybody wrote the same way? I don’t want my fiction to read like a formulaic write-by-numbers, a colour-within-the-lines tome, or an academic essay – yuck! Conventions and tropes that work in one genre don’t always work in others. Some tropes are overdone and working against them might be more in your favour. The point of an editor is to know when to follow the rules, and when to break them.
My AI policy is simple: I don’t use it, and I won’t use it. If I don’t know the answer to a particular issue, that’s what style guides and research are for.
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