AI useage: A Personal policy

We have entered a new age, a new era, and with that there’s new technology that can be fun and interesting but also terrifying. For at least 60 years now, science fiction writers have been warning us all about the dangers and benefits of AI. And while so far the outcome is not like that of Terminator or the Dune Prequels, there are certainly a whole heap of moral and ethical concerns with this technology. I have been the victim of my work being included in AI training data and no I don’t like that at all. I don’t think it’s fair for artists to have their creative works taken without their consent to feed a faceless dataset that others far more powerful might profit from. Recently I was asked at a book show if my cover was AI, to which I replied no. I sometimes get angry comments in my Facebook ads as well.

If you really care about my stance on this topic, read on.

I personally love the idea of doing it all by hand, blood, sweat, tears, and all. I’ve always been this way.  Even back when I was actively writing music, I avoided sampling because I wanted to create original music, not recycled commercial garbage. I still feel the same in much of that. Art should be hard.

So, do I use AI in my work? Let’s break it down.

In the writing process: No AI is used in the writing of any of my stories or books. I write the old fashioned way, with my thoughts and my ideas, one word at a time. This is one of my greatest joys in life, and I will never let it go. This is where the agency of an artist is translated best. This is where the intrinsically human part comes through, and no model can ever truly encompass the me that is me, or the you that is you.

In the editing process: I use AI somewhat. For years, we have all been using algorithms of one type or another when it comes to spell check and grammar. I do pay real humans to do line and copy editing, but in the early drafts especially, I use the “classic” tools.

In translations: In some circumstances, though very few, I have used AI to translate into another language. While I speak a little of some other languages (my best is Spanish), I am by no means bi-lingual. I like including a diverse array of characters in my stories, and this comes with its own challenges. I try to make these authentic as possible. If I know someone personally who is a native speaker, I’ll just ask them what to say, but sometimes that is not available, especially from certain specific regions.

In marketing: Let’s break this one into 2 categories.

1)      For book covers: I have only used AI for placeholder images, as much as any of us would have used other works for reference materials. Soon as the book is nearing completion, I work with a talented artist like Christopher Doll to prepare a custom cover. This is not cheap with the kind of artwork I have created, and I am okay with that. I want a REAL person to be compensated for an ORIGINAL piece of artwork.

2)      Social media/ad content/website: On all web-based marketing content I do everything I can to first use assets I have received from my cover artist. When there is something additional I need for a post/a Facebook AD/etc and the cover won’t cut it, I use stock photo/video resources where possible. However, if you dig around on my website long enough you might see some content which is AI generated. I will not act like I haven’t used image generation for some header/footer/attention grabbing content. The important thing to note is, I will only do it in these spaces because the margins do not currently exist in my writing business to do otherwise, and much of this variety of content is throw away, to be seen by a few thousand people at most and never used again. I have mostly moved away from this practice and heavily rely on being creative in my stock photo usage because of the moral/ethical concerns here.  

In audio recording: I do not use AI at all for audio book production.

I fully understand that the discussion of AI in arts is a heated and important one. I, for one, would love to go back to a day of very minimal electronic assistance in this space, especially the generative variety, but culturally that ship has sailed. If any AI tools are at play, they are merely enhancements. The core material has been made by a human, with the help of other humans. AI is a powerful tool that can be used for great good, especially in streamlining very functionary tasks and combing through massive datasets for insights, but we all know some will use it for nefarious means, especially when it comes to the spreading of disinformation online, making us question what is real (a very Decartes idea).

If you ever need to confirm that I am a real person, not just a bunch of machines strung together, come find me at the next con. We’ll get a picture together and everyone online can argue over whether it’s real or not.

But you’ll know. And I’ll know. And I guess… that’s the best we can ask for these days.

 -          J Fitzpatrick Mauldin

(PS: This was written without AI – And side note, you probably just used an AI to summarize this which makes the whole thing even wilder)