Don't ask me that.
The other day, someone asked me if Jolene, the book I’m working on right now, is being written by an AI. And even though anyone who’s read this space for any length of time knows that I’m pro-AI, and actually pro replacing some authors with AI, I was kind of insulted. Not just because it says nothing good about their estimation of my skill, but because there’s an assumption now that anyone tackling a significant creative project can’t do it without AI.
And that, of course, made me start thinking about how dumb some of the questions agents ask are when one queries. One I see a lot is, “Did you use AI for any part of this manuscript?” This despite the fact that “using AI” can mean a lot of different things depending on how strictly you want to apply the definition.
Is someone who uses Grammarly an AI-user? Yes. How about ProWritingAid? Yes. What if they used Claude as a beta reader? Also yes. So tell me: is a standard that broad worth applying to anything? Finally, we get a no.
I’ve said many times that writing with AI is no sin. Having AI write for you is the problem. Using AI as the tool it is, such as the Sudowrite stuff I’ve been writing about, shouldn’t warrant condemnation.
It’s the new elitism. That’s really all it is. Like those who said CGI wasn’t “real” effects work. Or photography wasn’t “real” art. I can’t bother with that.