The same book written by a person and an AI: the Journey beyond the Unknown by Valentina Federici

There are two stories that are the same story, the same because they start from the same premises but different because they were written by two different authors. Very different: one is the 36-year-old Valentina Federici, the other is an artificial intelligence. Indeed, a combination of multiple artificial intelligences or language models: GPT 3.5 and GPT 4, Claude 1 and 2 and Deepl, put together to challenge the human brain.

What would happen if an AI collective confronted a person on the same problem? Who would prevail? Who would get the best result? This is the experiment to which Federici has undertaken, an experiment which has resulted in a volume which can be found in bookstores, is titled Journey beyond the Unknownyou can buy it on Amazon and Sunday 12 May it will also be at the Turin Book Fair.

The day before, Saturday 11 MayFederici will present it in Reggio Emilia at fourth edition of Internazionale Kids (the program)the journalism festival for children, talking about it together with the writer Marco Magnone and interviewed by the editorial staff of I hate reading.

If the AI ​​puts the feelings

“The AIs and I had the same input and instructions”, she told us when we reached her by phone at her home in Switzerland, on the French-speaking shore of Lake Geneva. Meaning what? “Writing a 100,000 character long story starring a group of kids, set in a dystopian future and with a love story in it, in an archipelago that could be the last outpost of society.” For the AI, the prompt was to write her as if she were a children’s writer. As if she were Valentina Federici, in short.

To find out if artificial intelligence has done it, you need to read the book, but here we can say that it has literally gone beyond expectations: “He did the opposite of what we thought she would have done, because we had many doubts about how she would be able to deal with her feelings, manage them and talk about them,” Federici told us. And instead? “And instead, of the two stories that came out, the one written by artificial intelligence is the more romantic one, where there is more space for feelings and which talks about a love story between two of the protagonists. Mine is more of an adventure story for 11-13 year olds.”

As if the human had followed the instructions more faithfully and better than the machine, while the machine was busy highlighting something else: “The AI he put the idea that AIs have of us into the book, that is, feelings, love and sensations – Federici pointed out to us – As if he knew he had to insist on these things precisely because he doesn’t feel them”. In short, wanting to put into words a somewhat disturbing reflection: “How we think about what AI are and try to understand them, AIs seem to think about what we are and they try to understand us.” And to imitate us, too.

Same prompt for AI and person

But in concrete terms, how was the work carried out? How the two versions were written of history? “The contacts between me and the editorial staff who then took care of the final layout of the book were held only via email, as depersonalized as possible, exactly as happened with AI,” Federici told us again.

The aim was also to reduce external intervention to a minimum: “No editing was done, because otherwise we would have distorted the experiment. No human has ever intervened directly on either text, except for a very light final proofreading”

Artificial intelligence will have done it first, right? “Not so much, because with AI the speed advantage is lost a little on more extensive writing – the author explained to us – She can’t write 100 thousand characters all at once, she needs time, because in a certain sense she forgets things. She doesn’t have enough memory to remember that much and she often has to repeat concepts already written”. For this reason, both authors were given precise and schematic stages: first the synopsis, then the character sheets, then the writing, then the ending.

AI and books, risks and opportunities

Federici is at his side second book (the first has not yet been published, it will be published in 2025), and we took advantage of the chat to ask her how she sees the relationship between artificial intelligence and writing. Are there more risks or more opportunities? “About ten years ago, when we were talking about technology we were thinking above all about the dangers to our privacy, it was a concern, something to defend ourselves from – he replied – Today AI is this, but it is also possibility”. For example? “For example, it can be useful for speeding up workperhaps to write a sequel to a successful book more quickly or by using the computer vision to digitize notes. In my opinion, however, teamwork is fundamental, that is, AI and people working together on the same project. So yes, it can work.”

Otherwise, according to Federici (but not only according to her) the risk is that of the so-called acceptable mediocrity, which we wrote about on Italian Tech already in February 2023: in the field of literature, it means settling for works that are quickly available but of medium-low level. The point is that “we like quick and easy things, they are the contents that we use the most on our mobile phones and that we consume the most: we like to have a quick answer, not having to wait years for the new book of a saga that we love or for the new season of game of Thrones, and an AI can write it faster than a person.” Federici reminded us that “the consumption of quick, easy, immediate and short stories works” and that “also in Italy storytelling platforms made with AI are emerging that renew a story daily and could go on indefinitely, always and forever giving people what they want”. And yet, “as our book also demonstrates, if there is no human work at the curation level behind the AI, the story remains mediocre.”

In summary, this is it the message he will give to kids who will listen to it at Internazionale Kids, that is, “the most important tool we have, even in the approach to AI, is the critical spirit, which is used to understand whether something is right or wrong, true or false. And the only way to build and cultivate a critical spirit is to study, read, live and have experiences.” And seeing that AIs seem perfect and “respond even when they don’t know the answer, it is essential to have the tools to understand.” Tools and skills that can also be acquired by reading a good book.

@capoema

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