tl;dr version
Generative AI is a scourge upon the world and should be yeeted into the sun. Legitimate tools, such as a dedicated text-to-speech program that isn’t using genAI, should not be thrown in with the genAI slop machines. I may use, or have used, certain tools that mimic genAI, such as human-coded Photoshop Actions that mimic oil painting effect, but these are not generative AI and should not be treated as such. Writing, art and other creative endeavours should be created by humans.
How I define ‘AI’
I use the Alliance of Independent Authors’ definition of AI which encompasses both:
“technology that replicates human behaviors and abilities conventionally seen as ‘intelligent’ and “applications or tools that combine human and machine intelligence.”
—AI for Authors: Practical and Ethical Guidelines via ALLi. (Originally published December 2022; last updated January 2023.)
This includes but is not limited to the following applications:
- Search and recommendation algorithms, such as Amazon’s “Customers also read” or “Customers also bought” recommendations;
- Grammar and spell check tools, such as Grammarly, ProWritingAid, or the Hemingway App; and
- Generative AI, such as text-to-image or image-to-image generators (e.g. Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E) or large language models (‘LLMs’) text generators (e.g. ChatGPT, Sudowrite) which may be standalone or integrated within other tools and services (e.g. Shutterstock, Canva, Photoshop).
What I believe
I stand with Clarkesworld on the use of AI in the publishing industry (originally published on 28 May 2023).
This means that I believe:
- AI technologies are powerful tools capable of both providing incredible assistive benefits to human creators and doing incredible harm.
- Generative AI tools should be trained and developed using ethically sourced training data (i.e. full, explicit, opt-in consent and licensing obtained from the rights holders prior to the inclusion and use of the data in any training set).
- The use of AI should be clearly disclosed.
My publishing process and the use of AI
I strive to use zero generative AI in my books and publishing business. Not only are these tools not ethically sourced, but I do not believe they produce anything usable for these processes and all they have accomplished so far is making non-genAI tools significantly worse.
The following table sets out my writing and publishing process for each book and, to the best of my knowledge, whether AI tools are used in that part of the process and to what extent they are used:
| Step | Use of AI? | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha stage | No | My rough drafts are 100% human written and a hot mess. At this stage, I’m basically producing an outline with key scenes filled in. There may be some ‘[xxx]’ placeholders, but not too many. This draft will go through multiple iterations as I get stuck and revise from the beginning.
I do not use AI to generate concepts/ideas for characters, plots, world building, or any other elements in the narrative structure (at the story, chapter, or scene level) or the prose (i.e. at the paragraph and sentence level). |
| Beta stage | No | My settings are 100% human created and developed. At this stage, most large scale issues have been addressed and I’m starting the process of polishing for betareaders. My betareaders are other humans, often fellow authors with strong stances against genAI themselves, who provide me with overall reader reactions and a high level overview of what works for them and what doesn’t on an emotional level. (Betareaders may also point out significant plot issues or inconsistencies I failed to notice.)
I do not use AI in any of these steps. I do not use AI to identify, assess, or determine the necessary further structural/developmental revisions to my books. |
| Line edit | No | Line editing consists of revisions at the paragraph and sentence level for paragraph and sentence structure, word choice (including repetitious word choice), flow, etc.
I do not use AI for line editing. |
| Grammar & spell check | Some | I tend to use the MLA format for nonfiction and use dictionaries as well as my grammar books for teaching English for spell check and grammar. I do not make use of Grammarly or similar, though I may use Word 2003’s spell check on occasion and manually review the items it flags. |
| Proofreading | No | Proofreading consists of identifying errors in formatting (e.g. margins, line breaks, section breaks) and prose (e.g. missing/doubled/transposed letters/words/punctuation marks). I do not use AI tools for proofreading.
I aim for zero proofreading errors; however, as with any highly manual process, there is a chance that some errors may slip through. |
| Cover art & design | No | I largely design my own covers. To do this I use stock images licensed on sites such as Shuttersock and Depositphotos. Using these sites for assets means relying on artists to label their creations accurately. When possible I will prioritise photos and vector/illustration assets uploaded before 2022 as that is the year when Midjourney was released and the ramp up of generativeAI images really began.
When I purchase a book cover, whether custom or premade, I try to determine whether the artist has any statement about AI on their website. If they state they will use AI, I will not use their covers. If they state they do not use AI, I will trust their word. If they don’t state it either way, most likely I will keep looking, but I may reach out for more information and decide based on the artist’s answer and, for custom designs, request that no generative AI images are used in the creation of these book covers. |
| Concept/interior art | No | I do not use generative AI to produce character, concept, or interior artwork. Interior artwork may come from font dingbats or artist-created illustrations. As with cover art, when I use these I try to restrict myself to illustrations created prior to the advent of genAI images. |
| Book blurb | No | My blurbs are 100% human written by me. |
| Marketing copywriting | No | All marketing copywriting on my author website and my social media is 100% human written by me. Social media schedulers may use AI to create posting schedules or similar. I attempt to limit my usage of these and avoid using any generative AI to write or create content for social media. |
| Advertising | N/A | I do not currently use paid advertising for my books. |
| Promotions | Unknown | I use Photoshop to create my promotional material. When assets other than my covers are used, the same information as for book covers and interior art apply. I do my upmost to research the images I am considering and decide which to use based on that.
I may also, from time to time, participate in promotions organized by other authors and members of the self-published fantasy community which will require the use of promotional graphics that may be partially or wholly created using generative AI without my knowledge or the knowledge of the organizer. |
| Cross promotion with other authors | No | I generally boost fellow authors whose work I’ve enjoyed or who are my friends on social media. My opinions on their works may thus contain a level of bias, but anything I say about them is entirely my own opinion, written down (or voiced) by me.
When boosting a project I think is cool, I do my best to check whether the creator(s) of these projects have any public statement made on the usage of generative AI. For the reasons set out in this statement, I will not knowingly promote any book, Kickstarter campaign, or initiative that makes use of generative AI. |
Detecting the use of generative AI
While I can guarantee every word in my books is 100% human produced by me, I cannot guarantee the same for my covers and promotional graphics due to:
- the widespread proliferation of generative AI technologies;
- a lack of robust controls over the uploading of images to stock imagery websites;
- the reliance by stock imagery websites on contributors to accurately label/tag all uploads created using generative AI technology as AI images;
- the lack of accurate AI detectors;
- the rapid improvement in the output of generative AI text-to-image and image-to-image generators;
- the way generative AI can mimic standard actions and tools that have been available in design tools such as Photoshop CS6’s oil painting filter since before generative AI existed; and
- the integration of generative AI technologies into stock imagery websites (e.g. Shutterstock, Canva) and standard industry design tools (e.g. Photoshop).
I make all reasonable efforts to ensure that any book covers, cover art, and promotional images commissioned or created by me are 100% generative AI-free by:
- Explicitly opting out of the use of generative AI tools;
- Checking the sources of images I use to ensure none are labeled as ‘AI’;
- Working only with highly reputable artists and designers who have a well-established portfolio of work and a clear position on the use of AI in their creative process;
- Instructing any artist or designer I engage that I do not want any generative AI elements or tools to be used in any work I commission from them;
- Checking the images themselves for obvious generative AI artifacts; and
- Running the images through AI detective tools such as Hive Moderation to obtain an indicator as to whether the content may potentially contain AI generated elements.
However, as an author, I do not have the knowledge, skills, or expertise to be able to consistently and accurately identify and assess whether or not content is wholly or partially AI generated. In addition, my understanding is that current AI detection tools are not sufficiently reliable, producing both false positives and false negatives, and their reliability is further reduced when AI generated content is further edited by a human.
Therefore, until such time that it will be commercially feasible for me to always commission custom human illustrated art from reputable human artists, I cannot guarantee that all of my covers, book-related art, and promotional images are 100% generative AI free.
Reporting the use of AI
If you believe that I have used generative AI in my books or publishing business in a way that is contrary to my intentions as laid out in this statement, please let me know so I can investigate it!
Remedies for the inadvertent use of AI
If inadvertent use of AI on my part is confirmed, I will do my best to make all reasonable efforts to remedy the situation to the best of my abilities. I would ideally replace the generative AI elements with human-created ones as soon as possible; however, this may not always be logistically or commercially feasible in a short time frame.
As a result, I will consider and decide on the remedies on a case by case basis. I will publicly disclose both my decision and the process I used to arrive at that decision.
For example: The original covers for Sea Foam and Silence, A Harmony of Water and Weald and The Ice Princess’s Fair Illusion were all made using human-created Photoshop CS6 actions applied to human-taken photographs, all dated to at latest 2018. However, since generative AI is highly likely to mimic this style, The Ice Princess’s Fair Illusion‘s cover has a tendency to be flagged by undiligent humans as generative AI. AI detection tools may in very rare occasion throw up a false positive for that particular cover. The moment I regained access to my work computer, I redesigned the covers using assets from 2021 at latest.
Though I did not need to update those particular covers as they do not contain any generative AI, I would use similar approaches to eliminate the inadvertant usage of actual generative AI.
Updates to this statement
I will review this position on at least an annual basis in response to ongoing developments in how AI technology evolves and changes in the publishing industry.
For full transparency, I will maintain a changelog of updates to this statement, including explanations for any changes in my position.
Credits
Delilah Waan wrote and allowed other authors to adapt her statement. You can see that one here.
Changelog
- 05-07-2025: Originally published