"Nothing is Ever Off-Limits." A Chat about AI with Vauhini Vara & Camille Bromley, Writers & Editors
What is the moral value of creation?
Hello! I come with a new interview, freshly wrapped!
Today I had the delight of speaking with Vauhini Vara and Camille Bromley.
A few months ago I posted on X that I wanted to do an interview with a writer who was knowledgeable about AI and its implications for writers. Several people told me I should reach out to Vauhini Vara. Vauhini is the author of “Ghosts,” a personal essay that appeared in The Believer in 2021.
“Ghosts” went viral in part due to its innovative use of GPT-3 (a predecessor to ChatGPT) to assist in telling a difficult personal narrative. “I didn’t know how to write about my sister’s death—so I had AI do it for me.”
Vauhini was kind enough to agree to an interview, and suggested we include Camille Bromley, the Features Editor at The Believer who helped bring this work to fruition. Vauhini has extensive experience as a technology reporter, starting as an intern for The Wall Street Journal and later launching The New Yorker’s business-section website. Her latest book, Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age was released this month and features “Ghosts” as well as in-depth explorations of the topics we discussed today.
Camille has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Wired, The New Republic, and National Geographic and has also been an editor at Wired, The Believer, Harper’s, and the Columbia Journalism Review.
In today’s conversation we talked about the development of “Ghosts.” Why did Vuahini use GPT-3 to tell this story? How did Vauhini pitch this piece to Camille? How did the piece arrive in its final form on The Believer site? What did Vauhini learn about the uses and limitations of AI writing tools?
Our conversation then shifted to each of our “complicated feelings” about AI. Is it okay for writers to be “AI-curious”? Is it wise for writers take time to understand what these tools offer, even if they decide to reject them wholesale? Ought writers who embrace AI grapple with its ethical implications? What are its ethical implications?
We spoke about the threats AI poses to writers as well as to the many “support jobs” for which writers are always hustling. We also talked about loss of privacy, data extraction, and what it means to be using a tool that is simultaneously using you.
It was a wonderful, educational and illuminating conversation, and I’m delighted we could make it happen!
To all who tuned in, thank you for participating! Your faces are the added glory on my already-glorious warm April day.
And, of course, thank you to Vauhini and Camille for taking the time to speak with me today.
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