ChatGPT showed me just how far it is from writing a blockbuster

10,000 hours. That's how long, at least according to author Malcolm Gladwell, it's supposed to take to master a craft. Or, if you're an AI a matter of months, weeks, or days. When I read that is now such an adept writer it's on Amazon's self-publishing service, I experienced a mini freakout. To be clear, OpenAI's groundbreaking chatbot is not publishing these tomes on its own. People are working with ChatGPT to develop themes, stories, and chapters for their books. My immediate reaction was, “I'm doomed.” But as the icy chill of that cold reality receded, I considered something else. Anyone can write and publish a book, and most of them won't be very good. Why should we assume that ChatGPT, which is learning from a lot of online writing, can write at, say, Stephen King's level – or even my level? RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU… In addition to writing for technology publications for over 30 years, I've dabbled in fictionFiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places in ways that are imaginary or inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose – often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories.[4][5] More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games.... – mostly children's books I've written, illustrated, and published on the Kindle self-publishing platform . So, what's taken me decades to achieve, ChatGPT has done in a matter of months. I won't lie; I was a little depressed. This flood of AI content will likely overwhelm human product on the same platform. It also destroys the notion of talent, as in something you might need to write a book, publish it and gain some notice. I fully expect a ChatGPT-authored book on The New York Times Best-Seller's list […]