Recently, on social media on a writers’ blog, the question of the use of AI resulted in a long and entry tirade both for and against.
I watched the exchange, saying nothing myself, until after about a hundred comments, decided to add my own.
I write simply: Perhaps our time would be better spent actually writing than arguing about a point that will always have two opposing views.
And that got me thinking about how society has been turned into a running battle between citizenry, on every topic. Politics. Religion. Healthcare. AI.
But then, add in the people against Amazon because of its monopoly over authors. Or how media steaming services have wound up costing more than before all the choices.
Still, AI remains a virulent discussion. In one side the claim that AI steals from writers. False. AI uses the writings to develop a pattern that it uses to create original content. Is that any more stealing than a writer copying the style of An admired author to develop their own story?
AI is taking way from the jobs of editors, graphic designers etc. Yeah, probably true, but that’s the age we live in. Cars took the jobs from horse tenders. Electricity from candle makers and street lighters.
The opposing argument is that AI does make it affordable for small publishers and authors to illustrate works.
Books & Pieces Magazine is such a small publisher. We have almost no revenue as we have no advertisers. So we do use AI for quick illustration. We won’t use AI to write anything, however. And our primary goal is to support emerging writers and offer a publishing outlet in a shrinking and highly competitive field.
And for that I do not apologize.
AI is a marvelous invention. Endless research leads in moments. Things that would otherwise take weeks or months. Like all things, the potential for abuse is always present. But in moderation; AI has and will have a place.
As for the endless battles on social media, I stay with my suggestion to just write more and worry less.
Article against AI: https://authorsguild.org/news/meta-libgen-ai-training-book-heist-what-authors-need-to-know/
Article explaining the use of AI: https://x.com/vraserx/status/1995497313398075797
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