I never thought I\u2019d have to write these words but here I am: my name is Peter and I am human.<\/p>\n
What seems like a self-evident proclamation needs to be made now because the misuse of AI is transforming considered op-eds such as this into \u201cslop-inion\u201d that is infecting the editorial pages of reputable media outlets.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks Crikey has had to remove a series on leadership<\/a>, while the features editor at Capital Brief took to LinkedIn<\/a> bemoaning the fact that 80-90% of all submissions appear to be AI-generated.<\/p>\n Of course, plagiarism has always been a journalistic sin, and if one holds out the work of ChatGPT as one\u2019s own, then that is clearly crossing a fundamental ethical line. But it\u2019s not enough to run an AI check over the final copy for telltale bot-speak<\/a>: the TEDx-style false negatives; the rhetorical questions, the inspirational pivot, the em dash. There are lots of grey areas in between. What if AI does the core research? Suggests the angle? Spots a logical inconsistency? When does the output stop being human?<\/p>\n As a loud and proud AI sceptic, I have been resistant to using the technology in my work. But recognising that I need to know thy enemy, I\u2019ve spent the last month trying Anthropic\u2019s Claude to understand how it might \u201csupport\u201d my writing process.<\/p>\n To guide me on this journey, I\u2019ve been taking advice from former Australian chief scientist Alan Finkel who has launched a global certification process for creators to \u201cverify\u201d their work is human-authored. Indeed, I\u2019m delighted to become their first \u201cProudly Human<\/a>\u201d columnist, joining a growing list of authors, musicians and publishers who have gone through the same formal accreditation process.<\/p>\n Proudly Human applies \u201cde minimis<\/a>\u201d to verify human authorship, a legal principle that has been used to establish inputs that would not undermine a creator\u2019s right to copyright their work. The principle sets the bounds for what can be used to assist a creator\u2019s work without it ceasing to be theirs. For example, it may be reasonable to use AI tools to check spelling and grammar and generate ideas. But it draws the line at drafting text or generating content that \u201cmeaningfully contributes to the final work\u201d.<\/p>\n Additionally, Proudly Human recommends a more detailed series of prompts<\/a> that ensure a writer is not automating the basics of story design and creative content. What we are talking about here is \u201cprovenance\u201d, a guarantee it is me who is communicating with you through these words. A similar concept has been used to authenticate the creation of First Nations\u2019 art<\/a> in the context of exploitative appropriation.<\/p>\n Within these constraints I was interested in how an AI assistant could augment my current writing process. Two weeks out from filing my monthly Guardian Essential column, I will survey the political landscape and frame up some questions for the report that will tap into the national mood. I will watch, read and listen to any bits of culture that grab my attention in my search for a metaphor to torture.<\/p>\n Over the fortnight I will start building an argument and take a sneaky peek at the early findings to ensure the poll will fit the thesis (sometimes when it doesn\u2019t I\u2019m forced to throw all the cards in the air and it makes for the best columns). Then I bounce the drafts past trusted eyes (including my wife who knows my bullshit better than anyone), construct a narrative around the findings, give it a final polish and send it through to Guardian Australia editors who run their critical eyes over it.<\/p>\n Working within a de mininis framework I could fast-track a lot of this work, get the AI assistant to sense-check my thesis, look for linkages in the field data and even suggest some pretty lame cultural allusions. Once I had done the draft I could load it into Claude and ask whether there were holes in my logic, which it would serve up with certitude in real time. Thus, you could argue that with the support of an overly eager research assistant and an instinctively compliant sense checker, I was a little more productive.<\/p>\n But I also found the removal of intellectual friction took something away from the end product. For me the drafting process is critical; the problem-solving, the self-doubt, the sense that by the fourth version the piece is coming together. Because writing is more than just filling a screen with words \u2013 it\u2019s all these choices and conscious decisions, it\u2019s killing your darlings, it\u2019s coming back to the well and looking for the right words to bring an idea to life.<\/p>\n In a world of slop, it\u2019s critical to differentiate the work of human creators from the output of machines. A human \u201ccertification\u201d serves both as a statement of commitment and also a guardrail from temptation should I get stuck by the dreaded writers\u2019 block and seek an easy way out of my troubles. Because I actually don\u2019t want to make my work easier. The hard bits are the point; the bits I get wrong are just as interesting as the bits I nail; taking the easy way is akin to the setting up the old pianola: it sounds pretty good but I\u2019m just pumping my feet.<\/p>\n For those of us who are concerned about the impacts of AI, we need to do more than shrug our shoulders or shake our heads; we make choices every day. An authenticator such as Proudly Human is not just a commitment from creators, it is also a proof of life that consumers should demand if they really care about the sort of society that comes out the other end of this so-called revolution.<\/p>\n Cultural content is the ground zero of the AI insurgency, the theft of intellectual work leading to the replacement of those same creative workers, and if we can\u2019t draw a line here, I fear there won\u2019t be any lines anywhere. Provenance matters.<\/p>\n Peter Lewis is an accredited Proudly Human<\/a> writer. He is the executive director of Essential, a progressive strategic communications and research company, and the host of Burning Platforms<\/a> podcast. 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