I didn’t want to weigh into this argument, but with the recent cancellation of Shy Girl by Mia Ballard on the part of (appropriately named) Hachette Publishing and the recent decision by Substack to flag AI-written material with a less-than-accurate “AI detector,” I have decided I am left with no good choice but to state my opinion on AI as it currently stands.
First, let me say this: I will make no promises regarding the use of or refusal to use generative AI. What I will promise you is that every story I put out under my name will be a good story worth your time to read. Maybe I will use AI. Maybe I won’t. If that refusal to toe a line or possibility that what I write might be AI assisted bothers you, it’s a great big world with a lot of people in it and I don’t expect my stories, while well-written, are going to be everyone’s cup of tea—especially given how much of my work is decidedly anti-establishment.
Second, AI can’t write any better than a chainsaw can sculpt you an eagle. I have, however, seen sculptors who could take a chainsaw and sculpt you an eagle so realistic that you might expect it to take flight. I say that as a novice who would probably hurt myself with a chainsaw before I could ever use one to chop a tree.
Third, the fact is the better AI becomes, the better it is going to become at mimicking humans at every task, including artistry. So, for the first time ever, I am thrilled by how many so-called “authors” stare at me blankly when I tell them to LEARN THEIR CRAFT. As long as AI keeps training on crap models of “literature”, it will keep putting out crap writing that presents as hack jobs. And that’s good for anyone who has actually taken the time and effort to learn to do this right.
I have spent 26 years learning my craft and I take it very seriously. If AI ever manages to write a great story that has my name on it, it will be because I have painstakingly taught it how. It won’t be a fluke. And it will be something I can regenerate much as a good chainsaw sculptor can continue to turn out amazing replicas of woodland creatures with a chainsaw despite the limitations of his or her tools.
I’m putting out great stories. What tools I use when creating my work are nobody’s business but my own unless I feel like sharing. I don’t. Enjoy the stories or don’t. By the time I put my pen down on the final punctuation of a story, it is already worth my time to have done. Your enjoyment or refusal to enjoy it is completely up to you.
This is my final word on the matter.
Sev