Psst. AI checkers don’t work. Pass it on.
These bloody things were briefly the bane of my life, but I’ve cut them out entirely for a more stress-free existence as a freelance writer.
Ahead of the AI Curve
At the start of the ChatGPT-fuelled AI hype, I figured I’d better get ahead of the curve. After all, as a freelance iGaming writer, editor and translator, this could be a threat to my livelihood.
What could I do? I figured it would be smart to offer an AI editing service. So I did.
If people want to save money by mass-producing crappy AI-spun content, don’t fight them. Instead, I could offer to improve it for them, adding the humour, nuance or empathy that a robot simply can’t.
Plus, I could also offer to fact check it, since LLMs are always wrong about literally everything, and rewrite it to beat the newly-emerging AI checking tools.
Sounds good, right? LOL.
How it Started
In fairness, this worked pretty well for a few weeks. But then I took on a client who was using Originality.AI, the most egregious of the AI checking pseudoscientists. He asked me to rewrite 2,500 words of content created with ChatGPT. No problem, I thought. Should take about three hours.
I edited, quite literally, every single sentence. After submitting, the client said that Originality was still showing a very high percentage of AI-generated content (I forget the exact figure). Okay, fine. I’ll have another crack.
After rewriting every single sentence a second time, he told me that it was still only 59% human, according to the AI checker.
Strict Conditions
At that point, I decided I would only continue with this service if we set some clear expectations. Firstly, I would never work with Originality.AI again. End of discussion.
Then, I would ask what the client’s expectations were. If they told me they wanted more than 80% human, regardless of the AI checker, I wouldn’t take the job as it would no longer be worth my time.
After one further bad experience, I pulled the plug on my gigs. In short, AI checkers are complete and utter garbage.
Even OpenAI Admits It
Interestingly, OpenAI themselves discontinued their own AI checker, because it doesn’t work, which is pretty revealing.
I’ve also heard many horror stories from other writers going to insane lengths to prove to clients that their content is genuine.
Filming themselves writing, running 8-year old copy through the AI checker and having it come up as AI-generated, all kinds of bullshit.
Well, fuck that. I haven’t got time for it. I simply won’t work with any client who insists on using these trash tools, and I feel much better for it.
Just Say “No”
It’s important that we all, collectively, as a community of writers, push back against this nonsense. It is hurting our reputations and costing us work.
I would encourage my fellow writers to do the same as me.
Your blood pressure will thank you for it.
Dominic Field is a freelance creator of AI-free iGaming content.