My Stance on AI-Generated Content

OMG, I just found this tonight and have been frustrated with the AI pieces on Vocal and other places. What a wonderful article and thanks for sharing the copyright statement you did. It is one thing to use a grammar checker or AI for an IDEA. It is totally not artistic to have AI write the story. Lazy. I spend hours on even short stories and edit and edit and edit and the more time to add photos for the story. I want it to be GOOD with my name on it - good in my eyes, as some readers may not agree - that’s OK, because I know I used that analytical and perfection bents of my brain to give the best. I always try to give credit for photos I use and NEVER want to even inadvertently mis-use someone’s work. Thank you!!!

I cannot stand AI. It is an Ouroboros of content that spews real peoples work out in a mass of rubbish! My only hope is that AI will become less effective because the internet is so saturated with it, that it can only try to mimic itself. What AI has going for it is that it can learn... but so can people! Learn to describe, write, photograph, and create! People who rely on AI are denying themselves their own brilliant works by not learning! I could go on forever Cendrine! Thank you for writing this!

I was curious and tried one of the AI image generators as an experiment but I found it very frustrating to use. I fed prompts into the system, fiddled with settings and never got back something close to what I was looking for. I wish I had the talent to produce art, but I don't. And I accept that. I think a lack of self acceptance and a drive for instant gratification fuels the use of AI writing and images for profit. Until we can accept who we are rather than being jealous of others, it will always be an issue.

Totally agree, Cendrine. I was just editing an article today from someone and I knew after a few sentences that it was generated by AI. There was decent information in there, but there was no style. No particular presentation in the way things were presented and in particular, no personal details, no recollections to help the reader associate with what was being discussed.

Interesting article and some useful resources. Thanks for sharing.

Eventually AI, if it takes over, will be copying and stealing from itself. Will there eventually be no humanity in art at all? 💙Anneliese

Thank you for sharing this Cendrine. I used Midjourney to create every image on every story I’ve posted on vocal. Obviously I credited Midjorney but I had no idea it infringed on real artists work. Looks like it’s time to cancel my account and get my story art elsewhere

I've never used these tools myself, I just dont see a role for them in my life, though perhaps thats short sighted of me, these things are going to be worth being au fait with and I am not - which means that I am not really very alert to spotting their use, though having read thnigs on this platform, I am now developing a suspicious mindset here and there when reading! Its a fascinating issue though, across so many fields, how we chose to integrate these technologies with our humanity.

As soon as Chat GPT became mainstream, I decided never to use it. Sure, it could help with inspiration. But I think creating anything has to involve struggle at times. Just because there's an algorithm to help doesn't mean it's a tool that will make your craft easier...it will simply hijack your ability to do your craft on your own. Similar (but worse) to being a kid and having your parents swoop in whenever you struggle with learning a new skill; hijacking your ability to adapt. So, I will never use AI. I find stories that use AI images to be off putting. It's hard to want to support the writer but see scam art promoting it...If the writing is human, it's almost false-advertising, and seems to prepare the reader to consider the writing as being of lesser quality. And that is a disservice I wish more writers were aware of. Your article here is very very worth reading. I haven't dared look into the horror-scape of AI writing. I can't bear the thought. I've happened upon AI poetry, and I can tell it's not human. It's getting harder to tell, though, especially because it is learning based on real human input, and humans are training it better and better. So, the scam is fooling more people. I wonder if I'll lose the ability to distinguish AI from real writing someday soon. I'd like to think I could detect a lack of soul, but then again...Psychopaths can still fool people, right? I guess there's input for that. Thank you for this, Cendrine. I noticed your site's AI disclaimer a few weeks ago and was so impressed by it. Do you think it'll help in the long run? I suspect the models will ignore anything like a legal disclaimer, as they've ignored the copyright laws. And could you even prove that they used your work? This seems like a daunting, near impossible situation.

Wouldn't it be fitting justice to AI generate an alternate internet which denied AI generated anything... The world has gone mad. Without real artists...they gots nuthin'!!!

I always search unsplash, Pixabay, pexels first when searching for a pic that fits the theme of my stories. I used to think these artists were making money from vocal every time someone uses their photos. Come to find out, they only get advertisement from it which is still great! I result to the use of AI images only when I can't find the right pic, mainly for fantasy and horror stories. I always credit the picture to where it came from underneath it and would NEVER pass it off as my own. If and when I move these stories passed vocal, I don't plan to take the photos with me. Especially if the stories are to be made into a book or an E-Read. I'm against any other use of AI for creating reading experiences. This also includes research. I don't think any of that is necessary and am fine with the traditional ways of gathering research. One of my gripes with AI includes the ability of students being able to generate essays for classes without doing any of the hard work. How do they expect to learn in their field if they don't take the time to learn. Great article, Cendrine. I'm sure you with continue to get more positive than negative feedback from it.

I do my writing the old-fashioned way. I make it up as I go along. As a Pantser, I never know what a story will be until it appears on the screen. That said, I have had run-ins with AI here on Vocal. Every month I write a story, usually between 5-7,000 words or so. I spend a minimum of a week or more writing it. 'Then it's edited, and put up on my site, then here on Vocal. and sent in my newsletter. In the last two months, August and September, I had both of my stories rejected for suspected AI content. I objected and they were finely put up. Each time took over a week until they actually put the stories up. To be fair, I do use Grammarly, and Pro Writing Aid, both the free versions. I NEED them because my typing skills are such that there are usually more mistakes than good lines. I fix more than I don't have to fix. So any help in that regard is appreciated. However, As for using AI to help generate ideas plots, or characters, Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know how. And I have no need for it. I have never been able to get a clear idea of why they thought my stories had any AI in them. I would love them to point to aspects or lines in my stories that they think are AI-generated. Frankly, I doubt that I could come up with the stories I've written, or if it tried their version of my stories it wouldn't be as good.

I couldn't agree more.

You've pointed out on several of my AI-generated images that they have six fingers or three arms. I don't feel I am infringing copyright and always say my images are AI-generated and give them away on Pixabay with some photographs. If you want perfection employ an artist. If Nightcafe have stolen an artist's work they should be taken to task.. Excellent article

Great article and I agree. Thanks for sharing.

Great article! Couldn't agree more!

Totally agree!!! Even the screen writers quilt included clauses regarding AI. Don't know all the details but from my understanding programs written are not to be entered into AI in order to create new programs.

I like that you agree that AI, when used responsibly, can be a great help to creatives, but when it is used to cut corners, block out the creative process entirely, steal and copy other artists' works, or REPLACE them entirely, that's when it becomes dangerous. The WGA strike and Hollywood strike should have been a big wake-up call for that, given that companies wanted to use actors' likenesses to generate AI copies of them... just disgusting. We deserve to get paid just as much as any other job! I think most people have this opinion, it's just getting drowned out by the "get rich quick" scheme people who just want to make a quick buck. It's so so predatory.

Agree completely! Already voiced opinion on vocal social 🤍

I hear you on that. Disturbing trends. It has been much on my mind, I've had to take a little sick break from Vocal, but this was something I've been ruminating on too. Not to spam you, but I guarantee this is a fully human piece of spam when you have a moment: https://vocal.media/poets/it-encircles-and-engulfs. I wrote a paranoid poem on the subject, suggesting that what we've created is not artificial intelligence at all, but artificial life on the level of amoebae or protazoa, with only the instinct to feed and reproduce. I think even using this as a tool will inevitably lead to the abuses you mentioned, as well as worse we can hardly imagine yet. We use AI algorithms at my dayjob (retail) for all matters inventory, and I see how it interacts with/shapes buying patterns. Disturbing. Tool indeed. It insinuates itself into everything. Very rare indeed will become those who are able to use it only as a tool. Great discussion, thanks Cendrine! I'll be back to explore some more of your new pieces soon.

#standagainstAI #StandwithCendrine

How frustrating this is- especially as you are yourself an artist.

This is the way I feel about the AI poetry💯♥️📝👍😉