AI21 Spices Wordtune AI Writing Assistant With Source Citations, Jokes, and Other Rhetorical Flavors

Generative AI startup AI21 Labs has augmented its Wordtune AI writing assistant with linked citations for any suggested facts, a distinction from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and many other generative text tools. The source links are part of a dozen new rhetorical ‘Wordtune Spices’ released by AI21 for improving a user’s writing. WordTune Spices, as the name suggests, provides ways to flavor the text with information culled from generally reputable web sources and stylistic enhancements like jokes, quotes, and counterarguments.

Generative AI Spice

Wordtune Spices employs an algorithm designed to find and connect facts to a writer’s request. AI21 envisions writers using the Spices for marketing, business reports, academic essays, and other non-fiction and persuasive purposes. On the factual side, writers can ask Wordtune to share relevant statistical, historical, or nature facts and see the sources used. The Spices can also define and expand upon the written text and even pull a quote thematically connected to the writing. The rest of the Spices are to enhance the writing style. The AI can expand on a subject, define the terms, give an example, or make an analogy. For an extra flourish, writers can use Spices to provide a counterargument, restate a message for emphasis, or make a topical joke, as seen on the right.

“Our mission at AI21 Labs is to change the way people read and write using AI, while focusing on empowering – not removing or replacing – the writer,” AI21 CEO Ori Goshen said. “Spices is a toolbox that melds the best that both man and machine can offer, working alongside writers as a source of inspiration for better, more efficient and more compelling writing, while ensuring that writers themselves have the space and freedom to best express their thoughts, insights and information. The future of writing starts today and we are excited to share it with you.”

Wordtuning Up

AI21 released Spices just a few weeks after bringing a Wordtune app to iOS as an iPhone keyboard integration. The startup is working on adding new Spices to the cabinet. The company wants to create industry-specific versions of the AI tools for professional use cases like healthcare, law, and other verticals with their own specialized sources and styles of writing. Accuracy is one of the biggest obstacles for generative text engines. Wrong answers led programmer discussion website Stack Overflow to ban ChatGPT responses for now and are one reason some educators don’t want students to use synthetic media tools in their work. AI21 emphasizes the ‘co-writing’ function of Wordtune to allay some of those concerns, as well as the worries of people who think generative AI can entirely replace human creative work.

“The technology is pretty amazing, and things are very, very early. It’s increasing at a surprising rate, with more and more people being aware of what they can produce with AI,” Goshen told Voicebot in an interview last month.” The main category of use for LLMs is the created category, like games and ad copywriting. A very dominant theme is co-writing. You see text editors everywhere these days because people want to enhance their core writing capabilities.”

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