Creative AI Policy and Mission Statement

Above is a picture of me. No one who knows me would recognize me in it. I uploaded a headshot to Canva's Cartoonify and then set it against an AI-generated image of a dirigible loading platform.

 
Generative AI is here. If you're someone whose livelihood has been negatively affected, I sympathize. I also relate. ChatGPT, etc. have taken a HUGE bite out of my content-writing work. 

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You can never put the genie back in the bottle, and history isn't kind to those who try. So I decided to embrace the genie (who was a little taken aback), and I realized a few things:

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1. AI art still has significant limitations. Most of the artwork for my novel is AI-generated/me-edited, and is meant to be evocative rather than exact. There are many details I can't get across. (Also, my characters aren't quite so busty...)

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2. AI text still has significant limitations, particularly when it comes to longer content but also when it comes to short "SEO-optimized" material (unless you're inputting so much information that it's just adding the connecting words). There's some fluff, some WTF, and a whole lot of meh.

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3. AI is derivative by definition. I've experimented with using AI tools to write scenes. (For one thing, I wanted to check out the competition.) I have never once felt, "Wow, that was great." Even with top-of-the-line software and my best prompts, I find AI-written fiction cringe-worthy. There's no individual spark or unique voice. Characters are two-dimensional sketches that self-consciously try and fail to be three-dimensional. The tools do best when describing the setting, and even then, that means a workable phrase or line, not a paragraph.​

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4. AI is a major asset in planning out texts (both fiction and nonfiction). It requires a long, involved dialogue, but when you know the major beats of your story or article, it can give you ideas for the minor, in-between ones.

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5. AI is an always-available sounding board. It's incapable of telling you whether something is working, but when you're stuck, it can get you through the hurdle.

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6. AI art creates exciting new possibilities. I don't have the money to hire an artist for everything this project requires, and anyone who's been stuck on a Pictionary team with me knows I don't have the talent to draw it myself.

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Policies for the Use of Generative AI

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I'm the first to admit that these are uncertain waters and that we are all still figuring out what ethical generative AI use looks like. I can't promise that I'll never screw up, but these are the principles that will guide me.

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Transparency

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I will disclose all significant uses of AI. (Obviously, the word "significant" is problematic, but I will do my best.) When it comes to the "original" artwork I publish, it is all AI. I have adjusted and combined pictures, often integrating other available clipart or fusing different AI images together. 

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As for AI text, I use these tools as sounding boards and planning tools. The deluxe digital reading experience will also incorporate a few odds and ends that are supplemental to the main text (pages of books that don't exist, fictional news articles, etc.) These are part of the experience, not part of the novel, and I don't want them in my voice. I will note them as they occur.

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Open-Mindedness

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This is a new area that requires us all to be respectful and reflective. I welcome viewpoints other than my own (so long as they meet these two requirements).

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Human-First

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I promise to consider the impact my actions may have on other creatives. Furthermore, should I ever develop enough of a platform/revenue stream, I will create opportunities for visual artists to profit from free publicity or paid work.