On
my previous agent quest, one of the agents I queried had this question on her
submission form:
Was the manuscript, in whole or in
part, written by AI?
Really?
Really.
Mind
you, this agent was looking for fiction. Technical writing (think brochures,
manuals, and business reports) are now largely assisted by AI and its predecessors,
the writing programs like Grammarly, Scrivener, and even Microsoft Word. I use Word
to catch typos as I type, and heaven help me, many still escape this smart
program.
But
writing novels is a different process, and it seems AI has joined the ranks of
those of us (humans) who venture to tell stories.
If
you write with the goal to “get published,” (harking back here to my last post)
I suppose you may test AI to see if it can churn something that would pass for
genre literature. These are formulaic by definition, and machines can do formulas.
If,
like me and most writers I know, you write to explore and discover meaning and understanding,
then AI has no place in your process.
AI?
FGDAI !
(=Forget about it)
As
to the agent who asked, I replied, “Heavens, no.” Maybe my mention of the
divine realm made her decline my submission swiftly. Probably not. But the very
fact of her asking got me regretting the submission as soon as I pressed Send.
Really.
9 comments:
I do wonder if someone is going to use AI to write their fiction book, any or part, they would also lie about it. But maybe that's my personal bias about the integrity or lack thereof in using it in the first place.
The possibility of everything going the way of formula via AI makes me wince. Are we ready to dispense with human beings altogether? That would include the ones who created AI in the first place. They’ll become obsolete!
It's disappointing that an agent would feel that question is even necessary. I wouldn't mind a robot to sort my garbage or do other mindless household tasks. But leave writing and creativity to the writers, actors, artists, and musicians.
Glad you didn't end up with that agent, Mirka. AI is just one more of the many tech things that I feel more and more left behind on.
I can't imagine AI coming up with anything original. I played with ChatGPT--fed it my synopsis for Bound and asked for possible titles. It came up with Burning Desires. It was good for a laugh!
I read BOUND, (EXCELLENT) and "Burning Desire" is an absurd title for it, though it would have sold like hot cakes ;)
I think they are asking because people are submitting AI written material.
AI doing mindless tasks... Isn't that the truth!
"I think they are asking because people are submitting AI written material."
Sue, I doubt anyone who's submitting fiction written by AI will admit to such on the submission form in the first place. The question conveys a deep mistrust from this agent right at the gate. Not a good look.
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