More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI [Hardcover]

In this revised and updated paperback edition, a veteran writing teacher argues that writing is a form of thinking and feeling and shows why it cant be replaced by AI.

Compelling. Joseph Epstein,Wall Street Journal

In the age of artificial intelligence, generating an essay is as simple as typing a prompt and pressing enter. What does this mean for the art of writing? According to longtime writing teacher John Warner: not much.

More Than Wordsargues that generative AI tools like ChatGPT not only can kill the student essay but should, since these assignments dont challenge students to do the real work of writing. To Warner, writing is thinkingdiscovering your ideas while trying to capture them on a pageand feelinggrappling with what it fundamentally means to be human.

More Than Wordscalls for us to use AI as an opportunity to reckon with our relationship with writing. Newly updated with practical resources for teachers and students, this is the essential book for anyone writing in the age of AI.

John Warneris a writer, speaker, and curriculum developer. The former editor ofMcSweeney’s Internet Tendency, he is the author of the booksWhy They Can’t WriteandThe Writer’s Practice. As “the Biblioracle,” Warner is a weekly columnist at theChicago Tribuneand writes the newsletterThe Biblioracle Recommends. He is also a strategic adviser for the Frankenstories writing game. He lives in Folly Beach, South Carolina. “Warner [illustrates] that the act of writing is not about the production of words, but is, rather, a complicated and deeply human process that involves a relationship between thought, memory, intention and language.”David Perry, Washington Post“Compelling.”Joseph Epstein, Wall Street Journal“Warner’s book offers many reasons to feel hopeful aboutl³