ChatGPT, the AI that may write poems, emails, spreadsheet formulation and extra, has attracted a large number of damaging exposure in recent times. Q&A coding web site Stack Overflow briefly banned customers from sharing content material generated via ChatGPT, announcing that the AI made it too simple for customers to flood the web site with spammy solutions. Then, New York Town public colleges prohibited scholars and academics from the use of ChatGPT on school-owned gadgets over fears of dishonest and incorrect information. .
That’s possibly why AI21 Labs, an Israeli startup growing text-generating AI techniques alongside the traces of ChatGPT, attempted a distinct tack with its newly-released assistive writing instrument, Wordtune Spices. Part of AI21’s increasing suite of generative AI, Wordtune Spices doesn’t compose emails and essays like ChatGPT. As an alternative, it suggests choices that vary the voice and magnificence of already-written sentences, additionally providing up statistics from web-based resources to “enhance arguments.”
“We see new superb AI functions offered on a weekly foundation — [AI systems] that generate pictures, audio and textual content in a resounding human-seeming approach,” Ori Goshen, the co-CEO and co-founder of AI21 Labs, informed TechCrunch by the use of e mail. “With all of the pleasure, for those techniques to change into helpful, they want to be tough, dependable and explainable.”
To that finish, Wordtune Spices cites its paintings for every tidbit of data it profers, offering customers with hyperlinks again to the unique resources. That’s one higher than ChatGPT, which doesn’t at all times — or as it should be — identify resources or even now and again issues to resources that don’t in fact exist.
AI21 says it advanced “grounding and attribution” algorithms to seek for related resources to base Wordtune Spices’ responses on and provide the supply hyperlinks along information. The instrument can assist write a thesis remark and primary concepts, together with explanations and counterarguments, in addition to supply analogies and inventive expressions like jokes and quotes.

Symbol Credit: AI21 Labs
Customers can make a choice from other cues (e.g. “criminal,” “well being care”) to recommended Wordtune Spices to signify rewrites suitable for explicit skilled paperwork. However Goshen says that Spices was once designed to deal with a wide selection of use circumstances, from writing essays and dealing on weblog posts to drafting monetary stories.
“Spices isn’t a device that generates a complete essay with one click on, as a result of we don’t assume this is helping create robust writers,” Goshen mentioned. “As an alternative, we equip the consumer with a toolbox of language and storytelling gear for them to craft their textual content to perfection via making selections on their very own from a bunch of probabilities.”
However how neatly does Wordtune Spices paintings in apply, and is it higher than the opposite AI-powered assistive writing gear in the market?
Author is amongst the ones gear — it employs an AI engine that evaluates key metrics corresponding to plagiarism, sentence complexity, formality and energetic voice utilization. Grammarly gives taste and tone tips. So does Ginger, ProWritingAid and Slick Write.
This reporter wasn’t ready to check Spices previous to its unencumber because of technical problems on AI21’s finish. However from a short lived demo video, the rewriting characteristic looked as if it would paintings neatly sufficient minus the occasional grammatical error. To practice the sentence “It’s no secret that synthetic intelligence gear have change into some of the newest developments in content material writing, running a blog and copywriting as a complete,” Spices steered “Some other people, like content material writers, could also be frightened of AI, but it surely will let you create fine quality content material with at least effort [sic].”
Spices cited an editorial from The New York Occasions in suggesting the sentence, however Goshen admits that there could be circumstances the place the instrument “[misses] knowledge that are supposed to were validated.” He additionally wired that, whilst there are filters and “different measures” in position to check out to forestall Spices from outputting poisonous or biased textual content — an issue for text-generating gear like ChatGPT — the type may “make errors” all of the identical.
“We’ve got been operating on sensible filters and different measures … We additionally attempted to preemptively block any trolling makes an attempt in that regard,” Goshen added. “That being mentioned, Spices isn’t bulletproof, particularly as it’s arduous to coach a [system] to make delicate selections that now and again even people fight with.”
Goshen says that AI21 plans to position “a large number of center of attention” on moderation and “make it extra tough” as Spices evolves. However for AI-curious creator retaining out for the easiest gadget, Spices most probably isn’t it — although it really works more or less as marketed.