The Flood Is Already Here: Westin Lee (AAA Video Game Writer & Indie Author)

Midjourney, SudoWrite, Sesame, Claude, ChatGPT, and the wonder of local LLMs: Westin Lee, a AAA game writer, marketing copywriter, and indie author I had the good fortune to work with on the Dying Light franchise and I touch on them all over the next hour. This conversation, which is deeply informed by an essay Westin published about AI and writing, explores the implications of AI on creativity, the quality of AI-generated content, and the evolving landscape of writing in the age of technology. Westin, who has the heart of an early-adopting techno-adventurer shares his experiences with AI tools, the challenges they present, and the importance of maintaining quality in creative work. The discussion also touches on the ethical considerations of AI in writing and the potential future of storytelling. We also get into the weeds on the writing process, the intricacies of character development, the limitations and potential of AI, how AI can serve as a tool for writers, the challenges it presents, and the importance of human interaction in AI experiences. The discussion also touches on the future of AI, its societal implications, and the potential for AI to assist filmmakers in their creative endeavors. Westin and I don’t agree on all things AI and the creative process, but we do have a lot of fun here talking about where we agree and where we diverge.

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Weston Lee and His Work
02:00 The Impact of AI on Writing
10:04 Exploring AI Tools in Creative Processes
19:50 Quality Concerns in AI-Generated Content
30:10 The Future of AI in Creative Industries
36:04 The Complexity of Character Descriptions
38:58 Understanding AI Technology and Its Limitations
42:13 The Nature of AI Creativity
45:00 AI as a Writing Assistant
50:53 The Challenges of AI in Creative Writing
55:50 The Human Element in AI Interactions
59:57 The Future of AI and Its Societal Impact
01:02:49 Exploring AI for Filmmakers

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Takeaways

* Weston Lee is a professional writer with experience in video games and copywriting.
* AI is reshaping the writing landscape, creating both opportunities and challenges.
* Writers need to critically assess the marketing hype surrounding AI tools.
* Quality concerns arise with AI-generated content, especially in creative fields.
* The use of AI in writing can serve as a sounding board for ideas.
* Indie authors face pressure to maintain quality amidst a flood of content.
* AI tools can help visualize concepts but may not replace human creativity.
* The ethical implications of AI scraping content are significant for writers.
* Networking and luck play a crucial role in a writer's success.
* The future of AI in creative industries remains uncertain, with both risks and opportunities. Character descriptions can be complex and misleading.
* AI technology has remarkable capabilities but significant limitations.
* AI is not a replacement for human creativity.
* The use of AI in writing can be both helpful and frustrating.
* Human interaction is crucial in AI experiences.
* The future of AI may lead to more human-like interactions.
* Local models of AI can provide privacy and customization.
* AI's role in filmmaking is still evolving and controversial.
* The societal impact of AI technology is a growing concern.
* Creative collaboration with AI can lead to unexpected results.

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(AI Summary Below)

AI Tools & Concepts Mentioned

1. Midjourney (image-generation)

   • Westin used earlier versions of Midjourney (e.g. v2) to create concept-like images for characters or settings in his novels.

   • While it could yield interesting starting points, he found the final images usually unfit for customer-facing use.

2. ChatGPT / Claude (LLMs)

   • Westin tested ChatGPT and Claude for story or scene “soundboard” tasks.

   • He highlights the phenomenon of AI producing interesting first lines or paragraphs that fall apart on closer inspection.

   • Westin found he’d spend more time fixing AI-generated stories than writing them from scratch.

3. SudoWrite

   • A writing-focused AI service that tries to mimic a more “literary” approach than ChatGPT’s default.

   • Westin was initially impressed by certain lines, only to realize they lacked true depth or coherent follow-through.

4. Local LLMs

   • Westin mentions “Local Llama” and other local-run transformer models that he’s explored as a hobbyist.

   • He finds it appealing because the data stays private (not scraped or stored in the cloud).

   • Running LLMs locally helped him see how different the raw technology is versus the polished, hype-laden products offered by big AI vendors.

5. Sesame

   • A voice-based AI chat tool. Westin and Andy each tried it and found it disturbingly humanlike – more so than Siri or Alexa.

   • Though it can impress at first, extended conversation often reveals it lacks deeper understanding or coherent memory.

Other Digital / Tech Mentions

• VR (Virtual Reality) and the Metaverse

  • Westin draws parallels between the hype cycles around VR/Metaverse and AI, noting both can fizzle out quickly.

  • Compares how VR was marketed as “the next big thing,” yet mainstream adoption plateaued.

• Private Equity Examples (Toys R Us)

  • Used as an analogy for how hype-driven business decisions can overshadow genuine creative or consumer-focused use of new technologies.

Broader Topics & Themes

1. Quality vs. Hype

   • Westin repeatedly makes the point that there is real sophistication in AI language and image models, but the hype around them can oversell their current capabilities.

   • Some “demo” outputs can look or sound amazing at first, but unravel under scrutiny – for instance, an “impressive” short snippet actually fails to pay off plot and character arcs.

2. AI as a ‘Sounding Board’

   • In theory, LLMs can help spark ideas or produce rough prompts that let a writer think differently about a character or setting.

   • In practice, Westin rarely finds the result genuinely helpful enough to reduce his workload.

3. Originality & the ‘Paved Roads’ Problem

   • LLMs excel at producing generic answers in well-trodden genres or topics.

   • They tend to fall apart, though, when asked for truly off-the-wall or niche creative ideas because there’s little or no training data to guide them.

4. Ethics & Data Scraping

   • Westin discovered one of his novels ended up in an online torrent for LLM training datasets.

   • Signals ongoing legal and moral debates around using authors’ works to train commercial models without consent or compensation.

5. Community / Industry Reactions

   • In writing, film festivals, and game dev circles, responses to AI are complicated.

   • Some are intrigued, others fear job loss or an “invasion of slop.”

   • Westin notes how “tech bros” hop from one hype wave to another (crypto, metaverse, NFTs, now AI) in search of the next major profit engine.

6. A Possible “AI Winter”

   • Given that current AI models can cost huge amounts to train and often lack a clear path to profitability, Westin sees parallels with previous “AI Winters,” where funding eventually dried up.

   • Expects hobbyist communities to keep iterating if/when big-company hype fades.

7. Westin’s Final Thoughts on AI

   • It could be a great productivity tool if it ever genuinely saves time on tasks he’d otherwise do manually – but so far, it’s rarely delivering that time savings for his creative writing.

   • Encourages people to experiment (e.g. with local-run models) to see the raw tech for what it is, apart from the hype-laden marketing.

Where to Find Westin Lee’s Work

• Website
  westinlee.com – Includes Westin’s essays on AI (the 14,000-word 2-part explainer), info about his novels (Wicked City, Teller Moon, Paranormal School 13), and additional writing.

• Blue Sky
  Westin is active on Blue Sky, offering snark, insight, and real-time commentary on AI, writing, and more.

• LinkedIn
  Posts about writing, game development, marketing, and technology. Also home to the multi-part AI essay.

In short, Westin’s perspective blends a writer’s craft background with lived professional experiences in publishing, games, and marketing. He sees real promise in the underlying technology – if you look past the hype. So far, though, he finds the biggest benefits are for small “utility” tasks or ephemeral concepting, rather than replacing the deeper human artistry essential to strong writing and storytelling.