Recently, my social media feeds have been inundated with complaints about AI in writing. Whether it’s writers using AI to create cover art, edit their books, or write their books for them. This is a major debate that has had me thinking for quite some time now.
According to this coursera article, AI, or Artificial Intelligence “refers to computer systems capable of performing complex tasks that historically only a human could do…” There is debate as to whether to term AI is correct for programs that create stories and images, since they are really just pulling from existing sources and not creating anything original. However, AI is the term being used so I will use it for this post.
Most Common Uses Today
ChatGPT, Google Translate, and search engine summaries are some of the most popular uses of AI. ChatGPT will create a text response to questions that can range anywhere from a basic answer to a question to writing a fictional story. The program requires prompts to create the text and pulls from a preexisting database.
Google Translate utilizes deep learning algorithms to translate between languages, while search engines scan articles and webpages to create a general summary. Search engine summaries can be unreliable as the programs have no way to know if they are pulling from reliable sources.
Ethics Issues, Environmental Impacts, and Scams
Reliability aside, there is a major ethics debate regarding AI. Many AI programs are using work they do not have permission to use to train their algorithms. Artists and writers go uncredited and uncompensated for what is essentially theft of their intellectual property. This property is then used to generate images for YouTube thumbnails, fake movie trailers, cover art, and yes, even whole novels.
Another debate is the environmental impact caused by AI servers. Between pollution caused by the diesel generators to run the data centers and the water usage required to keep the centers temperature controlled, there is argument that the centers cause more harm than good. See this MIT article for more information.
AI has also been utilized in criminal activity to copy a person’s voice or likeness in order to scam the person being copied or their loved ones. As this post is focused on the ethics of AI, see this article from Experian on AI scams.
Should It Be Allowed in Publishing
My focus here is on the ethics of utilizing AI in publishing. Users of AI state the programs make the task more accessible. For those looking to self publish, a lot of money is required up front. Editing, cover art, marketing materials, page inserts. All require different expertise typically covered by a traditional publishing house. An independent author, one who does not use a traditional publishing house, must source these services on their own using their own money.
I’ve looked into it. Trust me, I know it’s expensive. Self publishing, even to kindle direct or another ebook platform, isn’t as simple as hitting “upload.” A writer who is not artistically inclined and does not have a person in their network to hire for these services, and who among us does, will have to outsource those tasks. AI programs can be as cheap as free, and it’s hard to argue with that.
There are a few problems with this route, however:
- Most of the AI programs use stolen work from other writers and artists to create their algorithms. Utilizing these stolen works makes the user complicit in that theft, in my opinion.
- Utilizing AI is taking money away from artists. It would be hypocritical, in my opinion, to take away those opportunities for a project will then, hopefully, make the author money.
- AI is not human. Look at any AI image or read any AI story and it is pretty obvious it was not written by a person. AI, at least in its current form, cannot create.
I understand the temptation to use AI. Getting published is hard. It can be expensive. But I would rather not be published at all, than use a program that steals from others and takes away their livelihood. I avoid AI as much as I possibly can. I do not use it in search engines. I do not use editing programs that use AI.
It is my opinion that AI should not be used for creative purposes. Technology should be used to make our lives easier so that we have more time to create.
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Alicia Coast 