On NaNoWriMo
Generative AI technology is, as it has been implemented by all of the major players, a purely exploitative technology that exists and profits entirely from the non-consensual and uncompensated theft of the work of thousands of authors, artists, and other creators. The datasets their technology is trained from could not exist without this mass theft. OpenAI have themselves said “It would be impossible to train today’s leading AI models without using copyrighted materials.”
It is therefore impossible to take advantage of the products of these tools without yourself taking advantage of the mass theft of the work of creators whose data was stolen to build it. You cannot use Generative AI as part of text and image generation and have any respect for the work of the creators whose work was taken without consent or compensation to create it.
This year NaNoWriMo said it would “recognize and respect writers who believe that AI tools are right for them.” So, respecting “writers” who believe the exploitation of the work of the people they believe are their contemporaries is fair game. They went further to say that to categorically condemn the use of artificial intelligence “would be to ignore classist and ableist issues surrounding the use of the technology.” This could not have been a more insulting use of authors with disabilities and from working-class backgrounds to try and use their circumstances as an excuse to push the technology that exploits their work as well.
That this has all happened immediately after they secured sponsorship from “AI writing generator” tool ‘ProWritingAid’ isn’t so much a coincidence as a damning indictment of how this decision to sign up to the exploitation of authors and their works has nothing to do with what’s good for writers whatsoever.
So, I won’t be taking part in NaNoWriMo this year. I’ve deleted my profile and all the writing I had on their site. Instead, I’ll be tracking my progress on my own site with a tool I built myself - and I’ll be working with other authors to make that available to more authors in future years.
That’s how the writing community actually works. Not with authors signing up to gain from the theft of the work of their peers, but with authors helping each other, as we always have.
