Jack's Place

The Fraudulent Writer

"It's my experience that very few writers, young or old, are really seeking advice when they give out their work to be read. They want support; they want someone to say, 'Good job!'" ~ John Irving

         Good day, all. You may be surprised to hear that I'm still a member of a number of writing groups, and the use of artificial intelligence (ChatGPT and the like) is a hot topic across all of them. One fraudster actually had the unmitigated gall to ask the real writers on the site how he could make his fake stories sound more natural. He was shouted off the site as a scammer, and in some cases, that's what it is. To a hobbyist writer like myself, I'm not sure I care if someone wants to use AI to live out a fantasy on the internet, and if I get fooled into reviewing one here and there, it's like a good prank. From the examples I've seen, I don't imagine any review I might write would make the AI user feel too good about his efforts anyway. But given the amount of discussion I've seen about this, most of it negative, I feel I should state my position in no uncertain terms, so that's the post rant today. Buckle up, 'cause here we go.

Me Using AI

         Consider this my abiding promise to anyone who reads my work: I WILL NEVER USE AI TO WRITE FOR ME UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Not that I'm writing that much anymore, but the name of this site is "writing.com," not "deceitful_programmer.com." What I write here is my own work, and if you choose to interact with me, you may rest assured that you're interacting with a human, not some unfeeling assembly of ones and zeroes.
         And what are you going to find here? This blog, of course, a weekly endeavor when I can find subject matter. Some old novels that were written long before AI became a thing — they'll go up a piece at a time — and an occasional dark story gathered under the "Invalid Item"  umbrella. I have several series with several episodes written that will NOT be displayed here because I have no intention of finishing them. This includes Sunset Beach which has been taken down. This is my current status. May change; probably will change. Updates will be posted here, but I will not start posting stories that are not complete. That would be wrong.

You Using AI

         As I mentioned before, if you're a hobbyist writer and you want to fool around with AI and see what it can accomplish, no real harm done, I guess. But if someone successfully uses AI to enter the market, it seems that he is A, "earning" money he has no right to, and B, stealing sales from the real writers who are putting in the work. Not to put too fine a point on it, this makes the AI user a thief in every sense of the word, and should be, I believe, a crime punishable by law.
         But that's just me. I'm here, after all is said and done, to have fun. I'm not the world's policeman, nor even the site's, and if I'm offered a blue case someday, I will decline it because that's a role I have no interest in performing. So don't worry about me. I'm just joining the conversation, and as long as it stays fun, I'll be around.
         How about you? Do you have any thoughts on the subject? You should, because these programs are just going to get more capable as time goes on, and just like SpellCheck in the early days, they're going to give those using them an advantage. Unlike SpellCheck, its ethics are sketchy at best, and could in the future, in certain circumstances, be considered criminal activity. We're at the dawn of this newfangled AI revolution, and the ground rules will be decided by those who show up. Will you be among them?

Stay Inspired!
Taylor...