A writing group in the US is being criticized by writers after it said it will not oppose using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
TechCrunch and The Verge reported on the third (local time) that the US’s “Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)” was being criticized online after claiming that “opposition to using AI writing tools is classist and meritocratic.”
The organization issued an announcement saying it neither endorses nor condemns any approach to AI technology.
“To flatly condemn AI ignores the classist and meritocratic issues surrounding using the technology, and questions on using AI are tied to questions on privilege,” the authors wrote. “Not all brains are created equal, and AI tools can reduce the financial burden of hiring human writing assistants.”
Novel Writing Month is an annual November event where participants submit 50,000-word novels. Last yr, the organization said it will accept novels written with the assistance of AI like ChatGPT, but noted that doing so for all submissions would undermine the aim of the challenge.
This yr, they went even further. Of their latest post, they wrote, “We recognize that some members of our community are staunchly against AI, and it is a matter of non-public selection.”
Skilled writers have since come under fire. Daniel Older, lead story architect for Star Wars: The High Republic, announced he was resigning from the organization’s writers’ committee, arguing that “generative AI empowers the tech industry, not artists or writers.”
Maureen Johnson, a #1 bestselling creator of young adult novels within the Recent York Times and USA Today, also resigned from the board of the Young Writers Program, raising concerns that authors’ work could possibly be stolen to coach AI systems.
The backlash is growing, especially after it was revealed that the group’s sponsors included AI software corporations equivalent to ProWritingAid.
Reporter Im Dae-jun ydj@aitimes.com
