Changing landscape of online writing and research businesses

This thread only invites reflection.

With rapidly evolving communication and entertainment technologies, what do you think is the future of the academic writing industry? TikTok has become a new phenomenon, and is giving competition to Facebook and Google Search.

More concerning is probably the rise of the AI that's steadfastly improving. A little while back in the past, AI was able to compete with humans in boardgames like chess, and now I read that it's getting better than humans in strategic decision making (just one example).

Since the academic writing industry is fragmented, divided, and often at daggers drawn with one another, there is virtually no data about how it is adapting to these changes. I am sure we are still swimming in the traditional pond (I.Can.Research.And.Write.Well.Com) while fish is moving into new rivers (TikTok, Insta, YT). What then should be our strategy to adapt?

Any thoughts? Thank you.

In principle, strategic decision-making is very similar to mathematics and chess, and AI is perfect for generating outputs based on specific inputs in relation to given rules. Writing, on the other hand, includes more creative components that are much harder for AI to replicate, at least in ways that aren't extremely easy to identify. Sometimes, essay company reps post advertisements for their companies on this forum that are very obviously AI-generated, and they're always immediately recognizable as AI writing. From what I understand, AI is already capable of generating (short-form) conversational responses in question-and-answer format that are indistinguishable from human responses; but that, also, is much more similar to mathematics and chess, and to outputs based on specific inputs in relation to given rules. I expect that it will still be a long time before AI will be able to generate essays that aren't easily recognizable as AI-generated.

The concerns and questions you've raised about the future of the academic writing industry in the face of evolving communication technologies and the rise of AI are indeed pertinent. The advancement of AI and automation poses both challenges and opportunities. AI can aid in various aspects of the academic writing process, such as generating citations, proofreading, and even suggesting content structures.

However, it's unlikely that AI can completely replace the depth of critical thinking, analysis, and creativity that human writers bring to academic work. Embracing AI as a tool to enhance efficiency rather than a replacement for human intellect could be a strategic move.

The way AI replicates complex human thought processes, including abstract thinking, is amazing. However, it is unlikely that technology will completely replace humans as far as academic writing is concerned. As people continue to use AI, it is becoming clear that it lacks that human touch and cannot engage in critical and objective reasoning the way humans can. We still need humans to bring out well-thought-out ideas and present them in a logical manner to answer a question. AI to writing is like the calculator to mathematics: it only adds efficiency and speed to writing but cannot entirely accomplish it.

Welcome to the forum, Sarah. With all due respect, I have to point out that much of your post about AI is incorrect and that some of your points directly contradict some of your other points. No offense intended.


Actually, the most significant limitation of AI writing is, precisely, that it absolutely cannot replicate human thought processes or perform abstract thinking. A student who turns in an AI essay that calls for abstract thinking (and/or whose prompt specifies that the assignment calls for any kind of analysis or original thought and not just facts) will likely receive an F on that assignment. The vast majority of all college and grad-school projects very specifically do require original analyses. That's why my clients who have tried AI programs for their essays quickly came back to me for their subsequent projects.


Exactly. In this context, "presenting well-thought-out ideas in a logical manner" is the exact same thing as abstract thinking.


Exactly. Critical and objective reasoning are synonymous with abstract thinking, which is exactly what AI cannot do.


Actually, calculators can accomplish any mathematical function much better than any human mathematician, not just perform math faster and more efficiently, which calculators do, obviously. That's because AI is perfectly suited to memorizing rules and applying those rules, which is exactly what math is.

The other problems with AI for academic essays are that AI programs typically do nothing but spit out facts and repeat statements found online, but without any distinction at all between statements found in legitimate authoritative sources and statements found in completely illegitimate non-authoritative sources, such as blogs, forums, and random websites that would never be considered acceptable sources for academic essays. Even worse, AI programs typically cite completely irrelevant and/or outdated sources and even make up non-existent sources, known in machine learning vernacular as "hallucinating" sources. They're also notorious for being flagged for plagiarism.

Here's an article titled "ChatGPT and Fake Sources" published jointly by a librarian for Biological Sciences and Global Health and a librarian for Engineering and Computer Science at Duke University:

blogs.library.duke.edu/blog/2023/03/09/chatgpt-and-fake-citations/

Here's a book review about Human-Compatible - Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control (Viking 2019) by Stuart Russell, explaining that AI cannot perform abstract reasoning at all: netopia.eu/abstract-intelligence-put-human-values-ai/

Artificial intelligence can only replace human writing in the draft section. The draft is like throwing pasta against the ceiling and trying to see what will stick. It is up to the human to replace and edit the trash that comes with the output. Keep what works, trash what does not. That is why AI use always comes with the caveat that the human should double check the information that the AI provides because it does make mistakes. To consider the AI essay output perfect and usable is what always gets the student into trouble. Yes, the landscape of online writing has changed, but that does not necessarily mean for the better. Case in point, the writing companies and independent writers have moved from websites to FB, X, TikTok, and other social media platforms where they can better control the image of their companies. AI is but a small fraction of the changes to the industry and does not pose a serious threat to the human writers at this time. Students will always come back to human academic writers at the end.

I cannot agree more. I can also see that the craze with AI is now fading. Google searches continue to surge bcz AI can tell lies and does not know the new restaurant near your home.

There are publications that show with science that AI is far far away from human intelligence.

Nice to see you back here, Meo. Hopefully, you'll be sticking around.

@FreelanceWriter Thank you for welcoming me. Yes, I will try to stay here. You see over the past year, I have been around, but the thing is there are stalkers and bullies on here that continue to make this forum toxic leaving little room (at least for me) to participate in a constructive/positive discussions that could benefit the visitors/members here. Remember we used to discuss a lot of serious topics that added immense value to this forum's online ranking?

However, I strongly believe that now probably the @Admins of this forum do not care much about the value we added because they continue to let abusers dominate on here.

Just ignore the trolls.

@FreelanceWriter I can't agree more with you. This is something we've done over the past 12+ years on this forum!!!

It's been 16 years, for me.

@FreelanceWriter Oh, yes, I am surprised how fast time has hopped away. Your 16 years of stay and active engagement on this forum has undoubteldy created a wealth of knowledge, ideas, and advice. I am sure countless students have found your posts invaluable. Keep up the good work!

Thanks, Meo; I appreciate that.

You're welcome, and you really deserve it, my man (sorry been too busy).

No worries. It's just great to see some old regulars back here for a change.

I am new to the website! :) I'm so excited to find an essay writing community. I love this job! Been doing it for almost 7 years now.

Welcome.

@Kranika Welcome to EssayScam. I truly hope that you will be an asset to this forum by dealing with the students properly. Please actively participate in the threads (of your own choice) and contribute useful information to the conversations. Do not just post in the hopes of recruiting clients for yourself. You will gain more from the community if you are on the level with everyone here. Welcome to the community.