OpenAI Has an AI Model That’s “Very Good” at Creative Writing

A newly developed AI model, trained by OpenAI, apparently shows exceptional creative writing skills, according to the company’s CEO, Sam Altman.

In a recent social media announcement, Altman revealed the existence of this model, highlighting its proficiency in producing literary fiction. He shared a sample piece, a short story exploring themes of AI and grief, generated from the prompt, “Please write a metafictional literary short story about AI and grief.”

Altman expressed significant surprise at the quality of the output, particularly noting the model’s accurate grasp of metafictional style. While the precise details and timeline for the model’s public release remain uncertain, Altman indicated that this marks the first instance where AI-generated writing has genuinely impressed him. The development raises potential implications for professional fiction writers in the future.

OpenAI’s primary focus has historically been on AI applications within structured domains, such as mathematics and computer coding, rather than creative writing. However, the company is now demonstrating interest in the realm of fiction. This suggests that OpenAI believes its most recent AI models have stepped up in their ability to generate compelling text.

However, it is worth mentioning here that, in the past, AI has not been known for its ability to produce high-quality written essays. Therefore, this new development shows a potential change in the capabilities of AI.

At the same time, ChatGPT and generative AI tools, in general, struggle to cite news content properly. A recent study by The Tow Center for Digital Journalism showed that this is not just a ChatGPT problem but a general problem among generative tools.