29 Module Seven: Creative Writing with AI: Generating Ideas and Prompts

Week Seven Overview

• Exploration of AI tools for creative writing prompts
• Workshop: Developing creative pieces with AI assistance
• Week Seven video discussion (Prompt exercise #3) Due Sunday

Note: The work you do in weeks 7-8 will prepare you for a culminating assignment project in creative writing, so choose a topic that interests you. This is one of three options (academic, creative, or professional) for the culminating assignment project. 

7.01 Comparative Reading Assignment

Human vs. AI Creative Writing: Can You Tell the Difference?

Instructions:

1. Read two short stories – one written by Curtis Sittenfeld and another written by an AI trained to mimic her style. Can You Tell Which Short Story ChatGPT Wrote?
2. As you read, take notes on stylistic elements, narrative structure, emotional resonance, and other literary qualities.
3. Before checking the answer, try to identify which story was written by a human and which by AI.
4. Reflect on what differences (or similarities) you noticed and what this reveals about AI’s capabilities in creative writing.
5. Read Curtis Sittenfeld’s take on this experience: An Experiment in Lust, Regret, and Kissing

7.02 The Role and Impact of AI in Creative Writing

No responses to classmates necessary on this one! Address the following in this discussion post:

1. 😀 After reading both stories, what are your thoughts on the role AI could play in creative writing?
2. 😀 What concerns do you have about AI in creative fiction?
3. 🤖 Use an AI tool to help you locate a current news article about AI in creative writing. Share the article link and a brief summary. If you use AI to help you write the summary, make sure you acknowledge and cite your use!
4. 😀 Reflect on how this article connects to our course discussions or your personal views on AI-assisted writing.

7.03 AI Collaboration: Short Story or Poetry Workshop

Instructions: Create a 500-word short story OR a short poem with AI assistance (for an example of a collaborative AI poem, see this blog post). Your post should include:

1. 🤖 The finished creative piece (short story or poem)
2. 😀 A brief (150-200 word) explanation of:
   • Your creative process with AI
   • What parts were AI-generated vs. your own writing
   • How you guided or edited the AI’s contributions
   • What you learned about creative collaboration with AI

Grading Options (choose one):

1. Option A: Attend the Wednesday live workshop session where we’ll discuss selected pieces and the AI collaboration process. Come prepared to share insights about your experience.
2. Option B: Complete an asynchronous workshop by providing substantive feedback on ALL of your classmates’ posts. Your feedback should address both the creative merit of the piece and the AI collaboration process they described.

7.04 Video Assignment: Building Your AI Writing Double

Your Task:

Create a 3-5 minute informal screen recording demonstrating your author persona bot using the video tool of your choice (Here’s the list of screen recording tools). I am not expecting you to script this assignment, nor am I grading for production values. I just want to see you walk me through how you trained your author bot. Note: if you have previously created a bot to write like you, there’s no need to create a new one for this assignment. Just give me a video tour.

Instructions:

1. Choose a platform (ChatGPT, Gemini, or Guardrailz) to create an AI bot that mimics your writing style. Check in with me if you need help with this (I’ll also try to create a brief demo video for Guardrailz).
2. Create a 3-5 minute screencast showing:
   • How you “trained” the AI to understand your style (through examples, descriptions, etc.)
   • Your prompt engineering process
   • Sample outputs from your AI double
   • Your analysis of how well it captured your voice
3. Include a brief reflection on what this exercise taught you about your own writing style.
4. Submit your video link here by Sunday at 11:59 PM.