AI AS WRITING COACH

A SURVEY OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE NEW YORK STATE SUMMER WRITERS INSTITUTE

JULY 2024

METHODOLOGY

Seventeen writers in the Intermediate Fiction Workshop taught by Elizabeth Benedict and James Hannaham are being shown critiques of their manuscripts that ChatGPT produced in response to this prompt:

Please thoroughly read, analyze, and evaluate the work of short fiction you’ll find below, and provide specific suggestions to the writer to improve it any way. Share especiallly your evaluation of the title, the opening, and the ending. Write alternative approaches as you think may be instructive. Be honest and supportive, but do not mince words. Thanks.

Their responses are being aggregated in a story to be published here on Smartacus and shared with Writers Institute participants.

You are receiving this survey because you’re among those with whom I enjoyed collaborating in this workshop and whose works I’ve taken the liberty of exploring with ChatGPT.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to share your thoughts on ChatGPT’s performance. Many thanks in advance if you do!

Dan Forbush

QUESTIONS FOR WRITERS

Was ChatGPT's critique of your work instructive? If so, in what way? If not, can you cite any specific ways you think it missed the mark?

Compare ChatGPT's insights on your work to those shared by humans in the workshop. Would you describe them as equally valuable, more valuable, or less valuable?

Have you found AI to be helpful in your writing? If so, in what ways? Do you regard AI as more of an aid or a threat?

May I quote your responses in my story? If so, please provide your name. If not, you may leave this field blank.

First Name

Last Name