Machine writing is becoming more human–all too human, in some cases

Where writing is concerned, the best of today's AIs can be very, very good. A few years ago, a text generator called GPT-2 analyzed a sample of writing by Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, then produced an imitation that hardly anyone could distinguish from the real thing. A more recent AI called Copilot, which has been customized for programming uses, is speeding up the work of practiced coders–it sometimes knows more than they do. A sample from a writing assistant called Jasper (formerly known as Jarvis) struck an editor as better than the work of some professional writers. The machines seem to have a particular knack for conversations. This may not be writing per se, but it's a language challenge that leaves some humans floundering.