Feeling down? Ask ChatGPT

On Sundays, I go to writing meetings. The idea is to gather in a coffee place to work on our projects. We don't have a shared assignment and do not read our pieces aloud. The idea is more about having a community of like-minded people to share inspirations and challenges.

Last Sunday, I worked on a short story. After two cups of coffee and a hot chocolate, I barely made it to the third paragraph. Writing about personal experiences or crafting a neutral-tone article comes naturally to me, but with the fictional story, everything was a struggle. How do I write in the third person? Is the plot credible? What should happen next? Finally, the habit of doing scrupulous fact-checking has just turned off my creativity.

"Okay, at least I know what my character looks like, what she does, and she is not a copy of me," I told myself to feel better before we gathered for a roundtable discussion at the end of the meeting. Still, I was craving reassurance, and I knew where to look for it.

Having insight into what other writers are doing is one of my favorite parts. The projects ranged from a novel and poetry to a post for a career blog. Finally, it was the organizer's turn to speak:

"I barely put some words on paper today. I have been working on a story, and I didn't like it, so I ended up asking ChatGPT what was good about it."

"Wow, so I am not the only one doing it?" I realized as everyone burst into laughter.

Turning to AI for emotional reassurance seems to be common, although we know that the technology can't grasp human emotions - at least, not yet. However, it can provide simple feedback like, "Your text reads very well," which can sometimes be enough to keep us motivated.

Also, isn't it a sort of empathy? Like when a person who has never suffered from insomnia says they are sorry you had a restless night. How long will it take before AI knows how it feels to be frustrated, excited, or nostalgic? And before it will be able to provide emotional support as good as the majority of people?

While these questions were running through my mind, the laughter stopped.

"In the end, I told this to my friend, and she said that if I prefer to talk about my writing with a human being, she is there for me," the organizer said. Before leaving, I hugged some group members. And hopefully, even when AI is smart enough to deal with our emotional ups and downs, there will still be a friend to give us a hand.