“我将 ChatGPT 用作故事协作者和故事评估者，而不是故事生成器。

我告诉我的同行作家，如果你试图让它为你写作，你会失去一些东西。这就像为了得到 A+ 而欺骗机器人的作业。我宁愿自己做作业。

我从来不会用它说“为我重写这个场景”。作家需要问自己，“你怎样才能以一种感觉良好的方式来使用它，让你觉得它仍然是你，仍然是你的声音？”只要你是它背后的创意引擎，这就是一个很好的工具。

我非常清楚我想如何使用人工智能。我像在恋爱关系中一样设定界限。我说，这是可以接受的；这是不可接受的。我设置了一个创意防火墙来表示，“不要为我写这个。我是作家。你不是作家。”

我整天、每天都在使用 ChatGPT。我把它想象成一个作家的房间。现在我正在改编一部小说。我会说：“这是我的节奏表。我觉得这个节奏表不够戏剧化。你觉得呢？”它会提供想法，然后我们像在编剧室一样来回讨论挑战。

有时我会要求它使用我开发的讲故事原则给我反馈。或者，我会要求它扮演一位资深编剧的角色。我会说：“好吧，假装你是某某著名作家或著名导演。你的笔记是什么？”

我总是坐在驾驶座上。它是一个奇妙的共鸣板，比我能想象到的任何东西都更快、更聪明、更好。”

“ChatGPT 已经成为我工作流程的一部分。在开始写作之前，我有时会和它讨论我正在思考的想法。感觉就像在集思广益——就像在仔细思考一个想法，或者大声思考。

我也尝试过把它当作我的第一个读者。写完几段后，我会把它展示给 ChatGPT，并请它进行一般性批评。有时它写得相当好。它会提出潜在的反驳，或者引导我提出我没有想到的想法。这和与编辑交谈不一样，但能有一些东西来激发我的想法还是很棒的。

我最常用的是我写在《纽约时报》上的文章（在新窗口中打开），也就是找词。我一直在尝试想出一种巧妙的方式来表达某件事；我想这就是写作。 

在使用 ChatGPT 之前，我会查字典和同义词库，然后徒劳地用 Google 搜索完美的单词。ChatGPT

为我取代了所有这些。它在类比、隐喻和习语方面也非常有用。通常，我会想到一半的类比，却无法以正确的方式完成它。现在，如果我想要一些有趣的比较，但不知道该用什么词，我会向它寻求帮助，经过一番来回之后，它就会帮助我找到我一直在寻找的想法。我从来没有使用过任何其他可以帮助解决这个问题的工具。”

“我认为它是一个创造性的合作者。问题应该是‘我如何使用 AI 来变得更有创造力？’”

我认为一个未被充分讨论的范例是，你实际上可以提示这些工具向你提问，让你思考，提示你开始写作。本能地说，“哦，这东西就是为我们写作的。”但是它也可以向我提问。它也可以让我思考并塑造我的想法——而这才是伟大写作的真正开始。

如果你不成为一名敏捷工程师，而是看到它能从你身上激发出什么，那会怎样？AI 可以成为一个不带偏见的合作者，帮助你获取这些伟大而独特的见解。

我认为它是一个永远在线的编辑器，可以帮助作家做得更好——而不是取代他们正在做的工作。他们可以使用它来集思广益、进行研究，使用 AI 完成写作过程中的非写作部分。就像你在《洋葱报》的编剧室里

一样。你们六个人一起工作会比你们一个人工作更有趣。这是一种共生关系。当我对自己诚实的时候，我实际上永远都不想放弃写作。写作就像锻炼或冥想。这是你从内心珍视的活动之一。即使人工智能可以写出完美的散文，我仍然想写作，因为写作本身是一种有价值的行为。写作很难。有很多事情真的很难，让人们放弃。你还没有喝咖啡，你缺乏想法，你无法找到故事所需的统计数据或事实……如果人工智能可以帮助解决这些问题，那么你作为一名作家就更有可能出现并完成工作。

“我使用 ChatGPT 来搞笑。它不会给我一个完整的笑话，但它会引发对话。我会说，“我需要你扮演摩西。作为摩西，听听一个叫梅根的女孩的抱怨，她是当今的社交媒体经理，尽管你的生活客观上更加艰难，但还是要试着安慰她。”我可以和任何人交谈。我觉得我身边就有那个人。

我发现它在我为笑话写设置时很有用。我当时正在写一个《创智赢家》的模仿作品，我问：“人们在《创智赢家》上说了什么？”

模仿作品并不是一对一的准确。你要把不同的东西夸大。所以我不仅要寻找一些常见的东西，比如“我在寻找投资”，还要寻找一些我可以夸大的独特《创智赢家》的东西？比如，“鲨鱼们，你有没有遇到过这种事？”我当时正在为一个参加编码会议的人写一篇吐槽演讲。我不是程序员，所以我让 ChatGPT 深入研究编程社区的内部笑话。我问：“你们团队中 50 岁程序员的刻板印象是什么？”ChatGPT 给出了一些建议：“他们会让你听无数的故事。”这让我想起了老年人总是谈论在名人成名之前遇到的名人。然后我让 ChatGPT 列出一些可能符合条件的科技名人，在名单中，史蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克 (Steve Wozniak) 感觉是最有趣的选择。最后的笑话是关于高级开发人员将如何无休止地向他们的年轻同事讲述他们在 1998 年的一次聚会上差点遇到史蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克的那件事。我选择了方向，但 ChatGPT 帮助我填补了细节。令我惊讶的是，我不再有写作障碍了——真的。我认为写作障碍是一种唯我论的感觉，是一种完全孤独的感觉。有了这个工具，我不再感到孤独。”

“ChatGPT 彻底改变了我的写作方式。 

到目前为止，写作中最困难的部分是研究。在使用 ChatGPT 之前，我会使用 Google 查找研究，深入 Wikipedia 并查找所有脚注，并从亚马逊阅读数十本书。我花了太多时间浏览数百个网页并购买数十本书，只是为了阅读每本书中的几章。

现在我只需问 ChatGPT 这样的问题：“关于更多和更少情绪化的文化进行了哪些研究？” 然后直接找到我需要的研究。我总是要求 ChatCPT 包含来源链接，这样我就可以确保信息准确无误。

我还使用 ChatGPT 来集思广益我的小说。当我想想象人类在一百万年后会如何进化时，我会问是否有证据表明人类仍在进化。ChatGPT 让我找到了一项研究，该研究表明，在潜水时长时间屏住呼吸的水上人会出现脾脏肿大。在研究技术系统时，它让我找到了一项关于通过水传输数据的研究。这些启发了我写两章乌托邦小说！

这些询问丝毫不会影响我自己的声音。它只是帮助我更快地找到自己的论点，因为我找到了更相关的源材料。ChatGPT 不会代替我写作或思考。它只是让我更好地获取信息，这样我就可以花更多的时间发挥创造力，而花更少的时间寻找信息。所有这些都不会影响我喜欢的深度阅读和研究。现在我已经读了几本非常符合我兴趣的精彩书籍，这要感谢 ChatGPT 找到与我的作品最相关的作品。

我甚至无法解释这比在谷歌上一页一页地搜索、筛选博主和品牌编写的 SEO 优化列表要好多少。”

“I use ChatGPT as a story collaborator and story evaluator—not a story generator.

I tell my fellow writers, if you try to have it write for you, you lose something in yourself. It’s like cheating on a robot’s homework to get an A+. I’d rather I did my own homework.

I never use it to say, “Rewrite this scene for me.” Writers need to ask themselves, “How can you use this in a way that feels good, that makes you feel like it’s still you and still your voice?” As long as you’re the creative engine behind it, this is a great tool to utilize.

I was very clear about how I wanted to use AI. I set boundaries the way one would in a relationship. I said, this is acceptable; this is unacceptable. I put up a creative firewall to say, “Do not write this for me. I’m the writer. You are not the writer.”

I use ChatGPT all day, every day. I think of it like a writers’ room. Right now I’m working on adapting a novel. I’ll say, “Here’s my beat sheet. I feel like this is not dramatic enough. Thoughts?” It offers ideas and we have a back-and-forth to talk out the challenges as one would in a writers’ room.

Sometimes I ask it to give me feedback using storytelling principles I’ve developed. Or, I ask it to play the role of a veteran screenwriter. I say, “All right, pretend you’re such-and-such famous writer or famous director. What are your notes?”

I’m always in the driver’s seat. It’s this fantastic sounding board that’s faster, smarter, and better than anything else I could imagine.”

“ChatGPT has become part of my workflow. Before I start writing, I sometimes have a conversation with it about the ideas I’m thinking of. It feels like brainstorming—like thinking an idea through, or thinking out loud.

I’ve also experimented with using it as my first reader. After I write a few paragraphs, I show it to ChatGPT and ask it for general criticism. Sometimes it's pretty good. It will suggest potential counterarguments, or lead me to ideas I hadn’t thought of. It’s not the same as talking to an editor, but it’s still great to have something to bounce my thoughts off.

My top use is what I wrote about in my New York Times article(opens in a new window), which is wordfinding. I'm constantly trying to come up with a clever way of saying something; I guess that's what writing is. 

Before ChatGPT, I’d look at dictionaries and thesauruses and go on wild-goose Google searches for the perfect word.

ChatGPT has replaced all of those for me. It’s also really helpful with analogies, metaphors and idioms. Often, I will think of half of an analogy and not be able to finish it in just the right way. Now, if I want some interesting comparison but don't know exactly the words to use, I ask it for help, and after a little back and forth it helps me find the thought I’d been searching for. I've never used any other tool that can help with that.”

“I think of it as a creative collaborator. The question should be, “How can I use AI to be more creative?”

One paradigm I think is underdiscussed is that you can actually prompt these tools to askyouquestions, to get you thinking, to prompt you to start writing. The instinct is to say, “Oh, this thing just writes for us.” But it can also askmequestions. It can also getmethinking and shapemyideas—and that’s where great writing really starts.

What if instead of you becoming a prompt engineer, you see what it can prompt out ofyou? The AI can be a non-judgmental collaborator that helps pull out these great, unique insights from you.

I view it as an always-on editor that can help writers do better work—not replace the work they're doing. They can use it for brainstorming, research, doing the non-writing part of the writing process using the AI.

It’s like if you were inThe Onion’swriter’s room. Six of you working together are going to be funnier together than you would be solo. There's a symbiosis that can exist.

When I'm honest with myself, I actually wouldn't ever want to give up the act of writing. Writing is like working out or meditating. It's one of those activities you value intrinsically. Even if the AI could write perfect prose, I’d still want to write because writing itself is a valuable act.

Writing is hard. There are so many things that are legit hard about it that make people give up. You haven't had your coffee yet, you're short on ideas, you can't track down a statistic or fact you need for a story… If AI can help with those things, then you as a writer are more likely to show up and do the work.”

“I use ChatGPT for comedy. It's not going to give me a finished joke, but it's going to start the conversation. I’ll be like, “I need you to embody Moses. And as Moses, hear the complaints of a girl named Megan who’s a present-day social media manager and try to console her, despite your objectively more difficult life.” I can have a conversation with anyone. I feel like I have the person there with me.

I find it useful when I’m writing the setup for a joke. I was writing a parody of Shark Tank and I asked, “What are the kinds of things people say on Shark Tank?”

With a parody, it's not one-to-one accuracy. You're taking things that are different and exaggerating them. So I'm looking for not just what are common things such as, “I’m looking for investment,” but what are uniquely Shark Tank things I can exaggerate? Such as, “Sharks, has this ever happened to you?”

I was writing a roast speech for a guy at a coding conference. I'm not a coder, so I asked ChatGPT to delve into the inside jokes of coding communities. I asked, “What are stereotypes about the 50-year-old programmer on your team?” ChatGPT responded with, among other suggestions: “They will make you listen to endless stories.” That reminded me how older people always talk about meeting celebrities before they were famous. I then prompted ChatGPT for some tech celebrities who might fit the bill and, of its list, Steve Wozniak felt like the funniest pick. In the end the joke was about how senior developers will endlessly regale their younger colleagues about that time they almost met Steve Wozniak at a party in 1998. I chose the direction, but ChatGPT helped me fill in the details.

What’s amazing to me is I do not have writer’s block anymore—like truly. I think writer’s block is the feeling of solipsism and it is the feeling of being totally alone. And I don’t feel alone anymore because of this tool.”

“ChatGPT has completely revolutionized my writing. 

By far the most difficult part of writing is researching. Before ChatGPT, I’d use Google to find studies, go down Wikipedia rabbit holes and look up all the footnotes, and read dozens of books from Amazon. I spent way too much time weeding through hundreds of webpages and paying for dozens of books just to read a few chapters from each one.

Now I just ask ChatGPT something like: “What research studies have been conducted about more and less emotive cultures?” and get right to the research I need. I always ask ChatCPT to include links to sources so I can make sure the information is accurate.

I also use ChatGPT to brainstorm my novel. When I wanted to imagine how humans might evolve in one million years, I asked if there’s evidence that humans are still evolving. ChatGPT led me to a study showing that waterfaring people, who hold their breath for long periods while diving, develop enlarged spleens. When researching technological systems, it led me to a study about transmitting data through water. These inspired two chapters of my utopian novel!

None of this querying in any way detracts from my own voice. It just helps me reach my own theses more quickly because I’m led to more relevant source materials. ChatGPT isn’t doing my writing or thinking for me. It’s just giving me better access to information so I can spend more time being creative and less time hunting for information. And none of this detracts from the deep reading and research I love to do. I have now read several incredible books that were very on-target with my interests thanks to ChatGPT finding the works most pertinent to my work.

I can't even begin to explain how much better this is than searching through page after page on Google, weeding through SEO-optimized lists written by bloggers and brands.”