Let's Talk About AI and Historical Fiction

This cartoon was made with AI (I can barely print my name, much less draw)

In my view, if authors use AI to write the bulk of their work, they are producing content, not writing. Perhaps their job is to produce content quickly and it is how they earn their living, in which case God Bless, we all have to pay the bills. But writing to create a work versus writing for work / creating content are two very different aims.

Think of it this way: you can buy a painting online, or you can learn how to paint. Or, the cover band may objectively have better musicians, but you want to see the real thing. You either enjoy the endeavor of writing (and are lucky enough to have the time, unencumbered by financial pressure) or you don’t.

Keep in mind, all AI LLMs (large language models) use probabilities to determine literally each and every next word. These probabilities are based on all of the data the model has consumed across the internet. These models have not "thought" before they blast out information. In fact, the model does not even know what the next word will be. While the result can be incredibly impressive, know that it is a probabilistic system, not a sentient creative one (not yet!!). While it can likely pump out some pretty good historical crime fiction or even high quality historical mystery fiction, it is still like a really good cover band.

AI is exceedingly good at mimicry and, in many cases, stunningly adept at creating all types of art—writing, painting, poetry, or music. This of course includes historical fiction. What AI cannot do, and will never be able to do, is inform its creativity with the human experience. Our lives, our memories, our worldview, and our experiences are all brought to the forefront when we create something. If you stood at the headstone of an ancestor long dead, you would very likely feel a connection. You intuitively know this and as a factual matter it is true that you are connected by bloodline. AI cannot have this type of experience. It can mimic it, sure. But it cannot have it, as it is uniquely human to feel a connection with other humans that came before us.

“Oh, but AI does a better job creating XYZ.” That may be true, but what is still absent is the humanity of creation. When we write historical fiction, we are synthesising what we know about history and our own human experience to bring a story to life. AI does not have the latter. While likely sooner than we thought was possible, AI will be capable of having human-like sensory experiences with its surroundings, that is not the same thing as being human.

Historical fiction is particularly research-dense. A good writer has to put in the time and do that work. Decades ago, in the mists of forgotten time before the internet, we had to drive (or ride our bikes, or ask mom to take us) to libraries if we were to research anything. Sometimes the book you needed was (gasp) already being used by someone else! Or the librarian would shrug and tell you that they didn't have any books like the one you were looking for. Go away kid, beat it!

Back home you would trudge, hoping that you would have time to complete your writing assignment, book, or whatever it was you were creating, and get it done by the deadline. Research was difficult. The internet made research exponentially less arduous. Better work could be completed in far less time. Now comes AI.

For my first book To Quiet the Child, I relied on AI research extensively. I had no idea what the name was for those large coats we have all seen that men wore in the 1700s. Turns out they are called "justaucorps". Who knew? What fabrics were ladies' gowns made from? Was ice cream "a thing" in the 1760s? How much did a merchantman ship weigh? What were some typical cargoes? I had so many questions. I also wanted to get the details right, as accuracy and authenticity are so important for high-quality immersive historical mystery and crime fiction. AI helped me to find original sources, learn an incredible amount of information in a very short time, and then focus on the quality of the craft - the writing. The part I wanted to do!

For better or for worse, AI is here to stay. It is like that roommate you get stuck with. I suggest that writers make the most of it. Instead of being threatened by it, make it a tool that you decide when to use. Is it going to put writers and actors and musicians out of business? I don't know. I hope not, as it is putting a lot of other people out of jobs for better or for worse. But that has been the worry through every technological revolution, and yet here we are. My hope is that humans will always appreciate art by other humans that understand emotions and the human experience, rather than just mimic them. Time will tell.