The Machete Mindset - Ghost Writing a Book with Humans vs ChatGPT
I created the same book twice. Once using humans, and again using ChatGPT.
Left: Machete Mindset (certified human created), Right: Machete Mindset: Volume 2 (LLM generated)
Four years ago I commissioned 13 strangers to ghost write a book called Machete Mindset for me in under two weeks. This year, I asked ChatGPT to do the same thing. If you are interested in seeing what AI is capable of these days, read on.
The humans brought a lot of heart to the first book, adding their own shared values around what is important in life as they wrote. One author said that The Machete represented the story of her own life and I genuinely believed her. The writing has grammatical and spelling errors but it's got character.
ChatGPT came up with some compelling characters of its own like Sensei Machete Max and Wise Abuela, but I know that they aren't real. There's some really interesting stuff in Volume II that I love like the Three C's of Precision Decisions - Clarity, Consistency, and Courage, or the acronym C.U.T that stands for Commitment to Choice, Unwavering Resolve, and Timeliness.
“The jungles of Belize were nothing like I’d imagined. Drenched in humidity, the air was thick with the scent of damp earth and verdant life. I was there on a research expedition, studying the indigenous flora and its potential medicinal properties. Armed with my notebook, camera, and, on the insistence of our local guide, a machete, I ventured into the heart of this green labyrinth.”
Who Wins The Battle?
The writing that we get from generative AI today appears normal in small doses, but there isn't much of a long term focus or narrative to it so it kind of meanders. This is also the case for the random collection of human chapters written by authors who have never met each other or read each others work. If we were to compare ChatGPT to a single professional author sitting down to pen a book by themselves, the differences would likely be obvious. I would caution drawing any big conclusions, but for the purposes of this experiment, ChatGPT came out way ahead:
| Humans | ChatGPT | |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 2019 | 2024 |
| Cost | $400 | <$50 * |
| Time | Two Weeks | Two Days |
| Chapter Count | 10 | 20 |
| Revisions | Up to two per chapter | Unlimited |
| Grammatical Errors | More | Nearly zero |
| Spelling Errors | Some | Nearly zero |
* - Monthly subscription for the Pro ChatGPT is $20, and I also pay for direct API usage. I had it write the whole thing in the chat but you could do this very cheaply with the API. I subscribed to MidJourney for what I think is slightly more advanced image generation, but Dall-E (the offering bundled with ChatGPT) would be a fine substitute.
ChatGPT Prompts for The Book
I started with a prompt for generating the chapter titles:
I would like your help with a book called "The Machete Mindset" that is about unlocking the ancient secrets of the machete and learning how to wield them in your own life. This book is about applying the way of the machete to achieve success in life and business. ... [then I copied the instructions I had previously given to the human writers.]
The full prompt includes the instructions that I gave the human writers. It has some great stuff like "The book is targeted at people who know they can achieve more than they currently do. It is for people who want to make BOLD MOVES and achieve PERSONAL GREATNESS."
Please generate a list of 40 chapter titles that would fit well in this book. Be heartfelt.
Chapter 5: "The Machete Guru" - Our protagonist seeks guidance from a quirky machete-wielding guru. I followed up with a quick "I would like to hear more about the machete guru" and suddenly our book had a protagonist. Description: Sensei Machete Max is a larger-than-life personality who has fully embraced the Machete Mindset. He's known for his flamboyant, jungle-themed attire, complete with a machete-adorned headband and a cape made of machete sheaths. Max has an impressive collection of machetes from around the world, each with its own unique story.
I chose the twenty most sensible from the list of forty chapters. Here's some highlights:
Unearthing the Secrets: The Legacy of the Machete
From Blade to Brain: Bridging the Ancient and the Modern
The Jungle of Today: Challenges of the Modern World
Two Sides of a Blade: The Power of Big and Small Moves
...
Whispers in the Wild: Listening to Life's Subtle Signs
Eternal Echoes: The Timeless Call of the Machete
Legacy of the Blade: Inspiring Future Generations
Final Reflections: From Jungle to Zenith, The Machete JourneyArmed with a good list of chapter names, I used this prompt for generating the content:
"The Machete Mindset" is a book about unlocking the ancient secrets of the machete, learning how to wield them in your own life, and applying the way of the machete to achieve success in life and business.
Write a chapter for "The Machete Mindset" that is titled "Chapter XX: Title: Subtitle". Be informative and inspirational.
I found that keeping this prompt very simple gave the best results and let ChatGPT explore more naturally. Once it gets revved up and starts writing, you can just keep saying Keep writing or Great! Keep going. Occasionally it's helpful to add something like Keep writing. Move on from this topic. Once I have generated enough text for a chapter, I tell ChatGPT to wrap it up and then assume the role of Sensei Max and then ask it to Tell a story as a prelude to this chapter as Sensei Machete Max.
At this point, we could create a hundred chapters pretty quickly if we wanted to. The results have a real Infinite Monkey Theory feel to them. It seems like if we produce enough content, there is bound to be some greatness in there somewhere.
D.E.E.P.E.R. Insights
Data Analysis, Emotional Reflection, External Feedback, Potential Adjustments, Engage in Learning, Re-strategize
Designing the Cover
I asked MidJourney to whip up some potential covers (prompt below) for Volume 2 based on the first cover image except "make it cyberpunk" to represent the growing influence of machines on humanity. The quality of work was more varied than with the humans. You certainly get a lot more options quickly, and I found one that worked. I used this prompt in midjourney:
/imagine https://s.mj.run/3KgMXtUgIwo but make it cyberpunk and add the text "Machete Mindset: VOLUME 2" --ar 2:3 --v 6.0☝️ That url is the cover of the original Machete Mindset
Midjourney Attempts at Creating the Cover for "Machete Mindset Volume 2"
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