{"id":27690,"date":"2026-05-14T09:37:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/?p=27690"},"modified":"2026-05-14T09:48:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:48:01","slug":"is-ai-really-writing-ancient-authors-would-have-said-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/is-ai-really-writing-ancient-authors-would-have-said-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Is AI really \u2018writing\u2019? From a priestess to philosophers, ancient authors would have said\u00a0\u2018no\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                          \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/disk-of-nheduanna-top-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/disk-of-nheduanna-top-1920x1080.jpg 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/disk-of-nheduanna-top-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/disk-of-nheduanna-top-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"Ancient alabaster disk carved with Sumerian religious figures\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  An ancient disk shows the priestess Enheduanna, third figure from the right, during a ritual. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=arts-and-culture\">Arts and Culture<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Is AI really \u2018writing\u2019? From a priestess to philosophers, ancient authors would have said\u00a0\u2018no\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  What should we call the words that this ultramodern technology produces? For clues, a professor looks to some of the world\u2019s earliest authors.\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Ryan Leack<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">May 14, 2026<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" 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cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>I teach <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/ryan-leack\/\">writing and rhetoric<\/a>, but my college students and I often overlook a surprisingly complicated question: What is writing?<\/p>\n<p>And can artificial intelligence really do it?<\/p>\n<p>Many people think of \u201cwriting\u201d as putting words on a page. However, even from very early on, writers have seen their craft as something more. From Enheduanna, <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/hidden-women-of-history-enheduanna-princess-priestess-and-the-worlds-first-known-author-109185\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the first named author on record<\/a>, to Plato and Aristotle, writing has been portrayed and defined in ways that suggest AI may not be \u201cwriting\u201d at all.<\/p>\n<p>If not, what should we call AI text? ChatGPT and I have an idea.<\/p>\n<h2>Praising and pleading<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27694\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27694\" style=\"width: 394px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-27694\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/exaltation-of-inanna-tablet-394x550.jpg\" alt=\"Ancient, worn tablet engraved with script\" width=\"394\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/exaltation-of-inanna-tablet-394x550.jpg 394w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/exaltation-of-inanna-tablet-733x1024.jpg 733w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/exaltation-of-inanna-tablet-768x1073.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/exaltation-of-inanna-tablet.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 394px) 100vw, 394px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27694\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tablet in the Penn Museum in Philadelphia inscribed with a copy of Enheduanna\u2019s \u2018Exaltation of Inanna.\u2019 (Photo: Masha Stoyanova\/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Enheduanna, who lived around 2,300 B.C.E., was a powerful princess, priestess and poet of the Akkadian Empire, in what is now Iraq. She has been celebrated as <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/hidden-women-of-history-enheduanna-princess-priestess-and-the-worlds-first-known-author-109185\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the earliest known writer<\/a>, though the authorship of her poems and hymns is debated.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/enheduana.org\/exaltation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">One of her poems<\/a>, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/157578\/from-the-hymn-to-inanna\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Exaltation of Inanna<\/a>,\u201d reveals a sense of what writing is and does \u2014 portraying it as a living medium that expresses experience and shapes the future.<\/p>\n<p>First, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/157578\/from-the-hymn-to-inanna\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the poem<\/a> praises <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/Inanna\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Inanna<\/a>, who was associated with fertility and war, among other powers. \u201cMy Lady, you are the guardian \/ Of all greatness,\u201d Enheduanna says, in a translation by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poets\/jane-hirshfield\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jane Hirschfield<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That praise may be strategic. It is followed by Enheduanna\u2019s plea to overthrow Lugal-Ane, a rebel king who she describes exiling her and taking her post at the temple of Ur. \u201cNow I have been cast out \/ To the place of lepers,\u201d she writes, describing her suffering. \u201cDay comes, \/ And the brightness \/ Is hidden around me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grieving, Enheduanna writes a new destiny. In <a href=\"https:\/\/enheduana.org\/exaltation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a translation by Sophus Helle<\/a>, the priestess envisions Inanna coming to her aid and \u201ctear[ing] off this fate, Lugale-Ane.\u201d And her pleading seems to be successful: The end of the poem depicts Enheduanna restored to her post.<\/p>\n<p>In Enheduanna\u2019s poetry, writing does not simply communicate information. It interacts with the present and changes the future. The priestess\u2019s pleas please the goddess, move her heart, and she restore Enheduanna to her post \u2014 though historians have little evidence of whether an exile and return really happened.<\/p>\n<p>But her poetry did have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/article\/190\/enheduanna---poet-priestess-empire-builder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">real-world influence<\/a>, helping to create <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture\/article\/20221025-enheduanna-the-worlds-first-named-author\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">religious and political unity<\/a> in the world\u2019s first empire. For example, her writing merged the Sumerian goddess Inanna <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/friday-essay-the-legend-of-ishtar-first-goddess-of-love-and-war-78468\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">with the Akkadian goddess Ishtar<\/a>, describing a single \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/inannaqueenofhea0000wolk\/mode\/2up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Queen of Heaven<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AI writing can be used to try to create change, such as by <a href=\"https:\/\/hai.stanford.edu\/news\/ais-powers-political-persuasion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">swaying someone\u2019s political opinion<\/a>. But it lacks the human emotions that make experiences like praise, gratitude and suffering possible \u2014 the emotions and motivations that make writing a living medium with real-world effects.<\/p>\n<h2>Transforming over informing<\/h2>\n<p>Two thousand years after Enheduanna, Plato and his student Aristotle offered another influential view of writing \u2014 one that complements hers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27695\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27695\" style=\"width: 369px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-27695\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/plato-aristotle-sculpture-luca-della-robbia-451x550.jpg\" alt=\"Sculpted relief with two male figures intensely conversing\" width=\"369\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/plato-aristotle-sculpture-luca-della-robbia-451x550.jpg 451w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/plato-aristotle-sculpture-luca-della-robbia-839x1024.jpg 839w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/plato-aristotle-sculpture-luca-della-robbia-768x937.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/plato-aristotle-sculpture-luca-della-robbia.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 369px) 100vw, 369px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27695\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A relief of Plato and his student Aristotle by Italian Renaissance sculptor Luca della Robbia. (Image source: sailko\/Wikimedia Commons.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the \u201cPhaedrus,\u201d which discusses <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/1636\/1636-h\/1636-h.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the relationship between love and rhetoric<\/a>, Plato famously defines writing as a <a href=\"https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/entries\/plato-rhetoric\/#Pha\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">poor copy of speech<\/a>. Speech\u2019s job is to represent thoughts; thoughts, in turn, represent knowledge and truth. Similarly, <a href=\"https:\/\/arquivo.bocc.ubi.pt\/pag\/Aristotle-interpretation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Aristotle writes<\/a>, \u201cSpoken words are the symbols of mental experience and written words are the symbols of spoken words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even that definition marks a sharp contrast with AI, which <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/can-ai-think-and-should-it-what-it-means-to-think-from-plato-to-chatgpt-256648\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lacks thoughts and mental experiences<\/a>. Its output proceeds from data aggregation and text generation.<\/p>\n<p>To understand what writing is, we also need to look at what it does. Although Plato elevates speech over writing, he suggests in \u201cPhaedrus\u201d that good writing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/1636\/1636-h\/1636-h.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">may lead a learner toward truth and knowledge<\/a>. Similar to Enheduanna, he employs writing as a tool for change, both inside and outside the text.<\/p>\n<p>In Plato\u2019s dialogues, characters often <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/9781108921596.012\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">radically change<\/a> their opinions. And today, almost 2,500 years after his death, the philosopher\u2019s real-world impact is clear. For instance, universities and colleges today are collectively called the \u201cAcademy\u201d because <a href=\"https:\/\/iep.utm.edu\/plato-academy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">that was the name of Plato\u2019s group<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/platosacademy.org\/a-short-history-of-platos-academy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first institution of higher learning in the West<\/a>. English scholar Alfred North Whitehead famously wrote that all Western philosophy is \u201ca series of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.palmyreoomen.nl\/uploads\/pdf%27s\/A.N.Whitehead_Process-and-Reality.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">footnotes to Plato<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aristotle\u2019s voluminous works, too, show writing\u2019s purpose transcends communication. In \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/brittlebooks.library.illinois.edu\/brittlebooks_open\/Books2009-04\/copeed0001intari\/copeed0001intari.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rhetoric<\/a>,\u201d for instance, he details ways to make writing persuasive. Aristotle defines rhetoric as a way of \u201cmoving souls,\u201d not just exchanging knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>For both of the Greek philosophers, then, writing is more about transformation than information.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27704\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27704\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27704\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/papyrus-of-platos-phaedrus.jpg\" alt=\"Tattered papyrus with writing\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1027\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/papyrus-of-platos-phaedrus.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/papyrus-of-platos-phaedrus-500x257.jpg 500w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/papyrus-of-platos-phaedrus-1024x526.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/papyrus-of-platos-phaedrus-768x394.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/papyrus-of-platos-phaedrus-1536x789.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27704\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This second-century papyrus of Plato\u2019s \u2018Phaedrus,\u2019 found in modern-day Egypt, was reconstructed from several fragments. (Image source: Oxyrhynchus Papyri Collection\/Oxford&#8217;s Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library via Wikimedia Commons.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Today, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spglobal.com\/market-intelligence\/en\/news-insights\/research\/2025\/11\/adoption-of-generative-ai-tools-is-skyrocketing-in-the-us-led-by-chatgpt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI tools\u2019 popularity<\/a> may make writing less dynamic and less moving. Use of AI risks a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/tech-news\/ai-changing-style-substance-human-writing-study-finds-rcna263789\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cblandification\u201d of writing<\/a>, according to a study led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cs.washington.edu\/people\/faculty\/natasha-jaques\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">computer science professor Natasha Jaques<\/a>. In other words, much AI writing today lacks distinct voices, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.cornell.edu\/stories\/2025\/04\/ai-suggestions-make-writing-more-generic-western\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">making it sound the same<\/a> \u2014 which could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/infinite-scroll\/ai-is-homogenizing-our-thoughts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">make people\u2019s thinking more similar<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Generwriting\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Overall, these three ancient authors agree that writing emerges from thoughts and experiences \u2014 a process that strives to create change. Enheduanna, Plato and Aristotle also agree that writing\u2019s essence transcends <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2025\/10\/01\/americans-have-mixed-feelings-about-ai-summaries-in-search-results\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the simple summaries<\/a> and information transmission common to AI output today.<\/p>\n<p>Although AI can generate <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.adn5290\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">creative texts<\/a>, its writing may not \u201cmove souls\u201d the way human writing does. Several studies show a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.2510.08831\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pro-human attribution bias<\/a>\u201d or an \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.chbah.2026.100304\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI penalty<\/a>,\u201d meaning that people prefer human writing even when AI writing is stylistically similar. People want to read what other people write, not what an algorithm pumps out.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps we need a different word for AI\u2019s output. Common terms today include \u201cgenerative content\u201d and \u201csynthetic text,\u201d but I wondered if I could land on something simpler \u2014 and involve AI itself. After prompting and tweaking ChatGPT over and over, I settled on one word: \u201cgenerwrite.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though AI is here to stay, new words may help distinguish types of text. And as Enheduanna, Plato and Aristotle remind us, there are elements of writing that may always be unique to embodied, thinking beings striving to move souls.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/280133\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/ryan-leack-1410964\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ryan Leack<\/a>, Assistant Professor (Teaching) of <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/the-writing-program\/\">Writing<\/a>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/usc-dornsife-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences-2669\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This article is republished from <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/is-ai-really-writing-from-a-priestess-to-philosophers-ancient-authors-would-have-said-no-280133\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Related Articles\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/usc-dornsife-economics-graduate-wins-red-bull-basement-2026-world-final\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >After global innovation win, USC Dornsife graduate aims to make calling for help safer<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/why-the-director-of-national-intelligence-needs-more-than-political-loyalty-to-do-the-job\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Why the director of national intelligence needs more than political loyalty to do the\u00a0job<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/priceschool.usc.edu\/news\/water-food-insecurity-countries\/\" \n         target=\"_blank\"                 class=\"\" \n      >Lack of clean drinking water linked to increased food insecurity<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What should we call the words that this ultramodern technology produces? For clues, a USC Dornsife professor looks to some of the world\u2019s earliest authors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":27691,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,10],"tags":[87,75,193,83,136],"class_list":["post-27690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-faculty","tag-expert-viewpoint","tag-humanities","tag-philosophy","tag-the-conversation","tag-writing-program"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is AI really \u2018writing\u2019? From a priestess to philosophers, ancient authors would have said\u00a0\u2018no\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What should we call the words this ultramodern technology produces? 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