AI can be a helpful tool, but it can’t replace the special qualities that make human storytelling unique

BY YAHYA KARIM

It has recently been found that people take a strong dislike to any stories that are labeled AI generated, even if they were truly written by a human. This might come as a surprise, but it shows how we feel about AI in creative work, such as writing stories.

The study, led by Haoran Chu, a professor of public relations, tested out how people would feel after reading two similar stories, one written by a human and one written by an AI. The participant in the study would find a label indicating which writing was AI generated, and which was written by a human. Through the experiment they switched the labels, so the readers thought they were reading an AI version of the story, when in fact they were reading the human version.

When people saw that it was an AI generated story, they seemed less interested. Even though what was written was almost identical, people did not feel that connection with the AI writing. They felt less connected if it was written by a machine.

The study found that stories written by AI can convince people just as much as those written by humans, especially when it comes to topics like health. However, AI doesn’t make readers feel as connected or immersed in the story. This is something that human writers are better at doing.

The study shows that people still really value the “human touch” in storytelling. Even though AI can write text that is clear and logical, it doesn’t have the same: emotional touch, creativity, or personal feel that humans bring to their writing. When we read a story, we trust human writers to make it feel relatable, which is something AI struggles to do.

In the future, AI might be great for writing simple facts, or basic information, but when it comes to creating deep, emotional stories humans still have the advantage. AI can be a helpful tool, but it can’t replace the special qualities that make human storytelling unique.