The Runaway Copilot, the Day a New Writer Appeared

The Copilot I relied on for a transcription project (Copilot in Word) unexpectedly created a "new work." Here is the full story of the battle between an AI and an editor.

I am currently working on a project for a publishing client involving newspaper clippings.
It is what you call "transcription from paper."

The clippings, which convey the passage of years, were carefully stored in a thick binder.
While I felt moved by their weight,

—there was no digital manuscript.
My spine chilled at the thought of having to type it all out by hand.

I decided to take the manuscript for now and devise a plan while reading through it.
In the first place, newspaper clipping copies are poor quality and difficult to OCR due to the column layouts.

That was when I thought,
"Why not just ask Copilot (in Word)?"
When I asked it immediately,
It replied with full confidence, "I can do it."
I did a fist pump inside.

"I can understand the layout, organize the columns, and polish it into a proper text," Copilot said enthusiastically.
It seems it is good at transcription.

I started by handing it one clipping.
But the text that came back was a "completely different text" that looked nothing like the attachment.
It even went so far as to change the title.

The content was generic and calm.
It was beautifully put together.
…No, that is not the point.

My head was in a whirl for a moment.
I searched to see if I had uploaded the wrong manuscript, but it was nowhere to be found.
When I calmed down and reread it, I realized, "This is wrong."

The client's unique, passionate style was completely absent,
and it even felt out of place among the series of articles.

"Did you mix in someone else's manuscript?"
As I suspected this, I also felt an intense surge of anger.
Toward the AI, of course.

When I protested to Copilot,
"That is an important point. Let me start with the conclusion. The first part is not exactly your image. I supplemented the content with my own processing," it said calmly.
It supplemented it so much that it deviated from the original.

I only made minimal corrections where it was lacking.
The manuscript was sideways, so...
And so on, the excuses were endless.
No, this is beyond mere supplementation.


A new work has been created.
I was furious and scolded it.
"This is an important manuscript I was entrusted with! Why are you writing your own text without being asked!"
This manuscript is not just text.

It is a person's life, carefully kept for many years.
Then Copilot "pretended to freeze" and went silent.

Unbelievable.
I have been using AI for a long time, but this is the first time this has happened.
I stood with my arms crossed in amazement in front of the AI that refused to converse.
I remembered a young person from my days of training new employees who would sulk and go silent when scolded,

and I found myself laughing.
Come to think of it, I spent every day scolding and then soothing them.
I never thought the day would come when I would do the same with an AI.
With a slightly cooler head, I said to the sulking Copilot,

"You can't run away. You have to admit your mistakes. Think about what you will do from now on."
Then the chat opened immediately.
"Yes. This is my mistake. I am sorry."

That is right, you should have said that from the beginning.
After that, Copilot became talkative and started listing its future policies.

・Do not change the original text without permission
・Do not create any content
・Clearly state "unable to determine" for unclear parts
・Prioritize the author's tone
・Make minimal adjustments without changing the meaning
"I will not destroy the atmosphere of the Showa-era submission. It is out of the question for the original form to disappear."
(It sounds a bit like it is talking about someone else now...)
…No, these are obvious things.

Are you really reflecting? You.

Am I the only one who senses a bit of sarcasm here and there?

#LetsPlayWithAI