Experiments in style: to automate or not to automate

Is it cheating? Is it satifying? Is it a waste of time?

The ‘Experiments in Style Extra’ posts are the ones in which I look behind the scenes or dive a bit deeper into a particular experiment or group of experiments.

For a while now I’ve been experimenting with rewriting a simple story in different ways. For the most part I’ve been doing this myself. When I’ve experimented with using AI, such as when I wrote the politican version, I was completely open about. Indeed, I invited readers to say whether they preferred the AI version or the one I wrote myself.

But can there be a place for using tools that automate the result? I think it can save time. For example, in the randomised words version, I used an application, thereby saving myself hours probably.

Here’s the original text:

In the middle of the night, I woke up (if you can call being semi-conscious being awake), walked purposefully towards the door to go to the bathroom — and almost knocked myself out.

The reason was that in the twin states of entire darkness and semi-somnambulance I was facing in a different direction from the one I thought I was facing. As a result, instead of walking through the door, I tried to walk through the wall.

The next few days brought nausea and headaches. After much prevarication I went to Accident and Emergency, where I waited petrified among people for whom “social distancing” means not quite touching you, and who wore their masks as a chin-warmer.

An hour and a half later I emerged into the twilight, secure in the knowledge that I had nothing more serious than mild concussion. I failed to do much writing, but I was pleased to have read a further 17% of my book.

But not all tools are created equal. I asked Perplexity.ai to rearrange the words in the story in a completely random way, and this is what it came up with:

the I up in of night, the woke (if being you can being call semi-conscious), walked towards purposefully door the to the go bathroom — almost knocked out myself and.reason that was twin in the states darkness entire semi-somnambulance and I facing was a in different direction from the one I thought I facing was. result, instead of walking through the door, I tried to walk through wall the.next few days brought nausea and headaches. much prevarication After I went to Accident and Emergency, where waited I petrified among people for whom “social distancing” means quite not touching you, and who wore their masks as a chin-warmer.hour and a half later I into emerged twilight, secure the in knowledge that I had nothing more serious than mild concussion. failed to do much writing, but I was pleased to have read further 17% my of book a. Let me know if you need anything else!

It then proposed the following further research suggestions:

1. What are some common causes of semi-somnambulance

2. How can I prevent accidents while walking in the dark

3. What are the symptoms of mild concussion

4. How effective are masks as chin-warmers

5. What are some strategies for dealing with social anxiety in crowded places

Well, the “random” version it produced is, I think you will agree, pretty useless. However, those questions are so off-track as to be unintentionally hilarious. I’m sure you can come up with your own answers, but here are a few of mine:

1. What are some common causes of semi-somnambulance?
   Not getting enough sleep?

2. How can I prevent accidents while walking in the dark?
   Turn the light on or use a torch.

3. What are the symptoms of mild concussion?
   Nausea and headaches — like it says in the story!

4. How effective are masks as chin-warmers?
   OMG.

5. What are some strategies for dealing with social anxiety in crowded places?
   Don’t go to those places¹.

One of the tools I’ve been trying out is specially for manipulating text in various ways.