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A Critique of A.I. Written Articles and How They Effect the Vocal Community
Today was the day. I finally did it. I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner. But I finally had enough.
What did I do today?
Today I finally unsubscribed from one of the worst accounts I was subscribed to on Vocal. I honestly don’t know why it took me so long. Perhaps it was laziness. Or that I get easily distracted if I have enough tasks, and something is low impact. But here I am now, and I am happy to know I will no longer get their updates.
Why did I unsubscribe? And why does it make me happy?
I unsubscribed because I could see that their account had turned to churning out articles created by artificial intelligence writing apps. To be honest, I’m not even sure a real person was generating any of their content. Don’t get me wrong, I know there has to be a real person somewhere beneath it all because I assume someone is making money off of this account. However, the account also appears to focus on generating content as fast as possible, and on topics that are pulled straight from an SEO list of trending topics.
So, why does unsubscribing from such an account make me happy? Why even write an article about this? What is my critique anyway?
Unsubscribing from this account made me happy because it means that I no longer have my feed filled to the brim with what amounts to the Vocal equivalent of junk mail. This means that now I am more likely to see things created by the authors I follow who take the time to create original and captivating stories. And in turn, it means that I can read, like, and comment on someone’s story that is here because they enjoy writing, and aren’t here just for a quick buck.
So, why even write an article about this?
For those who have been around Vocal and other similar sites, for a while, we know that SEO-driven and A.I. written articles have been a problem for a while. And that is the core of my critique as well. While I do like that Vocal now makes it a requirement for people using A.I. to label their articles as such(if they’re being honest), the problem is now they have left the gate open for anyone wanting to cash in on generating content for content’s sake to do it with their blessing.
Why is that a problem you may ask?
Well, the effect of this is that it pulls readers away from authors who actually put in work to write their articles. And in turn, this can and will drive some of those authors away from the platform. I say this as someone who has been on both sides of that issue.
When I first joined Vocal, it was for a challenge that I hoped to make a considerable amount of money on if I had won. After not winning, or even knowing how I placed, I became disheartened until another challenge came up that I felt I could win. Again, like many, the prize would have been life-changing. Not lottery money life-changing, but it would have gotten me out of the debt I was in at the time. And that would have been enough breathing room for me to live a little easier. Unfortunately I didn’t win, again.
What did change after this challenge though was that I found some of the Vocal Facebook groups. This showed me how other people used the platform. It showed me that not only can you make money here, but that you can write articles that fit that SEO criteria without resorting to gimmicks.
However, with accounts like the one I just unsubscribed from, writing such articles, and getting recognition for those articles will become harder in the future. It doesn't matter if the recognition is in the form of a Top Story and/or the traffic generated from such an article, the motivation to write original content will go down. And this will drive some creators away because this only further dilutes the pool of readers. And it is this pool of readers that some authors rely on to keep them going. Not that we usually make enough here to live off of, but rather, many of those articles generate readership, that in turn helps elevate our works that might not generate that much traffic on their own.
So, what is my hope with this article?
One, I hope this encourages discussion on this topic from the community. I am not as plugged in as many. I don’t jump in the discussion chats on Facebook, do Discord, or any of the other things that I feel take away from more important things(aka actually writing or doing things IRL), but I do hope to hear back from my fellow authors and our readers to see how they feel about such accounts.
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In a village there was a sculptor who Made beautiful idols and earned a good Living from his work his son followed in His footsteps and began making Idols From a young age the son also had a Talent for making excellent idols the Father used to be happy about his son’s Success however he would always find Some fault or another in his son’s idols He used to say Well done but encouraged Him to do better next time The sun did not complain either and he Followed his father’s advice to continue Improving his sculptures Because of constant Improvement the Sun’s sculptures eventually became Better than those of his father there Came a time when people started buying The sun’s Idols for a high price while The father’s Idols continued to sell for The same price as before Despite this the father continued to Point out the shortcomings in his son’s Idols however the sun was not feeling Well now and he used to accept those Shortcomings in his idols without Minding them but he still made Corrections to them There was a time when the sun’s patience Reached its limit and he answered back To his father who was constantly finding Fault The son asked when will you stop finding Fault with me then he continued people Say that you are a great sculptor but if You truly had such great understanding Then why are your sculptures being sold At such low prices I don’t think I need to take your advice My sculptures in my opinion are perfect As a result his father stopped giving Advice to his son and stopped finding Fault with his idols The boy was happy for a few months Enjoying the praise and admiration for His idols however he soon noticed that People were no longer praising them as Much as they used to and the prices of His idols had stopped increasing At first the boy did not understand the Reason for this but then he went to his Father and explained the problem to him The father listened to his son calmly as If he had known all along that this day Would come the son also noticed this and Asked did you know this was going to Happen the father replied yes because Many years ago I faced the same Situation the son then asked why didn’t You tell me about it the father replied Because you didn’t want to understand I know I don’t make sculptures as good As you do it’s possible that my advice About Idols is incorrect and it’s also True that your sculptures have never Improved as a result of my advice but When I used to point out the Shortcomings in your Idols you were not Satisfied with being certified by the Idols you made you used to strive to Better yourself and that striving was The reason for your success however the Day you are satisfied with being Certified by your work and you also Agree that it can’t get any better your Growth has stopped People always expect better from you and This is the reason why you are no longer Praised for your ideals nor do you get Paid much for them The sun remains silent for a while and Then asked So what should I do now The father replied believe that there is Always room for improvement within Yourself this mind-set is one thing that Will consistently Inspire and motivate You to become a better version of Yourself what do you learn from story The pursuit of continuous Improvement And self-reflection is essential for Personal growth and success The sun’s initial success came from his Willingness to accept his father’s Feedback and constantly strive to Improve his sculptures however when he Became complacent and stopped seeking Criticism his growth stagnated and his Work lost its appeal so one should Always strive to become better.
By Sabiu Tobi2 days ago in Critique
Comments (19)
Excellent post. I never venture forth to read any of the AI created stories or posts. The lure of an actual person - a creative author - is what pulls me in.
Interesting read. I'm fairly new here so still trying to work out the best means of engaging with the community (I don't have a Facebook or a Discord). The problem is, there's just so much AI and generic SEO nonsense (as there is on any platform these days, I suppose) that it's hard to find actual writers among the noise!
This was good to read. I don’t know what the answer to it is, but I thought your description of it as junk mail was apt.
Ugh, agreed. It comes across so monotone and bland, and like you said it’s just lazy!
Anyone can write with AI! But blimey is it bland. I've been approached on Linked In to apply for a job to fine tune AI to make it sound less contrived. But I was repulsed by the suggestion. Sure the computers will work it out on their own but this writer is not going to help them. I'm with Cathy. So boring and I switch off straightaway. Yawn! I wish it was policed better. I wish people would be more honest but they won't. But one good thing is that when I have time to trawl through content on here, which is rarely, I do feel like a treasure hunter or a gold prospector, and I quite like that!
Congrats on Top Story, well deserved. I TOTALLY agree with you. I have become discouraged very recently due to all the AI content - it pushes all the stories below the AI creations that are posted every five minutes. Yes, we have followers who read our non-AI stories but Top Stories and LATEST stories seem to get more reads and comments. I don't want to read AI stories and sometimes it is hard to determine if they are dishonest and don't label them. Lately there is a group (or one person acting as a bunch) making AI comments all over Vocal to get paid as top something on the Leaderboard. Vocal can be a leader in writing platforms and stop this, rather than joining the club of allowing AI just because others are.
Congratulations on your TS.
Great critique! It’s unfortunate how many articles tend to get churned out by AI on various platforms nowadays. I’ve seen it on Medium as well.
I never write using AI. I have read a few AI generated stories on Vocal, however they sound more robotic than authentic and I do get bored with them quickly. I like to read an article in which I can hear the authors authentic voice. Authenticity is important in writing, as that is what draws your readers in because it helps them to get to know you. Use your triggers. Triggers will help you to write better content than AI, and thank you for highlighting this.
I hate to admit it but I never paid that much attention to AI written articles. My bad, too! I joined Vocal to get my name and work out there but now I'm wondering if I'm competing with a bunch of computers. It's sad. AI doesn't belong here. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'm going to be more careful now about what I read.
Oh man this is a subject I despair about... I don't understand why Vocal refuse to take action on this. Instead they are just pushing it down the line for writers to report the submissions ourselves. Grrr... Perhaps a mass cancellation of our Vocal+ will make them take notice? (This is the last piece I wrote on the subject... https://vocal.media/writers/today-s-latest-stories-or-how-vocal-is-losing-the-ai-war )
Exactly this! It’s everywhere and clogging up everything right now. Congrats on the TS!
Congratulations on top story 🥳👏
I feel you. Recently i have also unsubscribed an account of these kind. And i feel so relieved. I used to get notification every 1 hour about a new story published by that writer. So i observed that account and the stories and i realised 90% were AI based without the tag 'AI GENERATED'. And i felt so demotivated cuz it takes hour to think and write. And tremendous amount of energy to brainstorm.
Most of these articles make me regret the time it takes to click on it and realise that there is no soul behind the content. Vocal should do a better job moderating hose kind of articles. I am also a contributor on Medium, and that kind of cash grab doesn’t pass there
Congrats on the TS.
Excellent article. I agree wholeheartedly. I will not read AI articles, and if get a sense, after starting, that a piece is unattributed AI, I shut it down. I want to read real work, from real writers.
AI is amazing for brainstorming, feedback, and assistance with some more tedious tasks; however, writing? I don't think I'll ever understand why would someone publish copy-pasted AI-written articles, especially when even the headings practically scream that the article has been generated by a bot. What baffles me even more is that some people actually read that stuff.
Great article, and (as usual) I agree with your position. I don't know if adding a link to your cafe' site is new BUT OMG: I love the sky images. I've bookmarked it for browsing.