Spot The Issues!

A new series has arrived for speech! It’s “Spot The Issues!” In this series we will provide speeches from different sources and analyzing the issues with them and what could be done to improve them. It’s great practice. Are you ready?

The following speech is a creative writing piece generated by ChatGPT that covers the topic of nihilism. It is about two minutes long (You will find a lot of issues with it!):

“Nihilism, with its cold embrace of nothingness, whispers to us in the dead of night, tempting us to surrender to the void. It tells us that life is but a fleeting shadow, devoid of inherent purpose or value. In the face of such existential emptiness, how can we find meaning? How can we justify our existence in a universe that seems indifferent to our hopes and dreams?

Yet, in the depths of despair, we find a flicker of light—a beacon of hope amidst the darkness. For it is precisely in our confrontation with nihilism that we discover the true essence of meaning. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, meaning emerges not in spite of nihilism, but because of it.

Consider the artist, standing before a blank canvas. In the absence of meaning, they find freedom—the freedom to create, to imbue the void with color and form, to defy the emptiness with the richness of their imagination. In the face of nihilism, the artist discovers a profound sense of purpose—to capture the fleeting beauty of existence, to transcend the limitations of the material world, to leave a mark upon the tapestry of time.

Or think of the scientist, peering into the abyss of the cosmos. In the vastness of space, they confront the insignificance of humanity—the fleeting specks of dust adrift in an indifferent universe. And yet, in their pursuit of knowledge, they find meaning—in the quest to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos, to unlock the secrets of existence, to glimpse the very fabric of reality itself.

In the end, it is not a question of whether nihilism must exist, but rather how we choose to confront it. Do we cower in the face of the void, paralyzed by the fear of our own insignificance? Or do we embrace the challenge, forging meaning from the chaos, and defining our own destiny in the process?

For it is in the crucible of nihilism that we discover the true depth of our humanity—the capacity to find meaning in the most unlikely of places, to carve out our own path amidst the chaos, to affirm our existence in the face of oblivion.

So let us not shy away from the darkness, but rather embrace it as an essential part of the human experience. For it is only through our struggle with nihilism that we truly come to understand the power of meaning, and the resilience of the human spirit.”

So where do we even begin?

Let’s start with the hook and introduction:

The introduction is complex and filled with fluff that could easily be cut off for a simpler and more concise speech that your audience can understand. Not only that it feels overly dramatic and over-the-top. It’s not a good start from ChatGPT. Try to avoid that complexity and over-the-top tone it seems to always have. This is true with the rest of the speech as well. It is filled with fluff and redundancy.

Remember:

Good writers think about what they can add on to their writing.
Great writers think about what they can remove from their writing.

ChatGPT needs to remove a lot. For example. consider the metaphors and analogies it uses like “Or think of the scientist, peering into the abyss of the cosmos. In the vastness of space, they confront the insignificance of humanity” and many other examples of awkward text and weird word usage.

The speech lacks impact as well. If we were in ChatGPT’s position then we would be thinking of how we can connect to the philosophy of nihilism and our idea of confronting it with our audiences’ beliefs, values, and needs:

Beliefs: Beliefs are the convictions or attitudes that individuals or groups hold about certain topics or issues.
e.g. The parents believe social media is harming their children.

Values:  Values are the principles or standards that individuals deem important. Identifying the values of your audience will always involve recognizing what they prioritize and hold dear in relation to the topic at hand.
e.g. The parents value their children’s safety.

Needs: Needs refer to the requirements or desires that individuals or groups seek to fulfill or address. These needs can be practical or emotional. They essentially are what the audience needs to understand and connect to your argument or piece.
e.g. The parents need a solution to help with digital safety.

ChatGPT does not effectively do this, and we get a lot of jargon. Don’t neglect the power of emotional connection and analysis!

Of course, there is a lot more that ChatGPT gets wrong, but we will leave that up to you to decide what could be improved. Let this serve as an example between human and AI’s when it comes to giving and writing good speeches.