Test 3: Add context
Wordtune Spices also excelled at filling in paragraphs with additional context. By pressing the + button you can add color and background information to a text, inserting historical data, a joke and an example to prove your point.
For example, I took this paragraph from my column last week:
First, it helps to understand why businesses want email addresses. For advertisers, web publishers and app makers, your email address is not only important to contact you. It acts as a digital breadcrumb for businesses to link your activity across websites and apps to serve you relevant ads.
In Wordtune Spices, I clicked the + button to add an example, historical fact, and joke. (Changes in bold.)
First, it helps to understand why businesses want email addresses. For advertisers, web publishers and app makers, your email address is not only important to contact you. For example, by tracking your purchases, businesses can recommend products or services that are relevant to you. The first email marketing blast was sent in 1978 by a man named Gary Thuerk working for Digital Equipment Corp. worked. And with that, Gary Thuerk went down in history as the world’s first “Spam” Lord!
After doing some research, I was impressed to learn that email was actually first used for marketing purposes in 1978. The example of using email receipts to deliver targeted advertising was also accurate. The joke wasn’t very funny, but it lightened things up.
Test 4: End this column
Lastly, I pasted this entire column into each writing assistant to see if it could come up with a kicker or a clever conclusion.
ChatGPT was the only one of the three able to read the entire text to come to a plausible conclusion:
With AI writing assistants like ChatGPT, Wordtune Spices and Rytr, we have a powerful tool to improve our writing – but only if we use it responsibly.
Wordtune Spices produced a useless snack:
With the help of writing assistants, I was able to close this column with a well-crafted conclusion that brings together all the points I discussed.
Rytr did, um, something:
Coaches in the National Football League earn an average of $2,000,000 per year.
AI21 Labs, the Israeli start-up that developed Wordtune Spices, said current AI writing technology requires more guidance from the user than the prompt I gave the tools. Rytr said its users could use a feedback tool to train its AI in case something went wrong. OpenAI declined to comment.
All of this shows that artificial intelligence can be a powerful tool to improve our work. I was surprised by some of the results – notably that Wordtune Spices was able to add accurate and relevant background information. I may occasionally use the tool to suggest adding some historical data to paragraphs, although I will then fact-check before posting.
And in general, the AI bots were useful for sharpening prose and cleaning up clunky, ungrammatical sentences.
However, what the bots couldn’t do was research or report to show their strengths and weaknesses. That requires thinking.
