February 23, 2023
A leading science fiction magazine Clarkesworld has temporarily halted new submissions due to a sudden surge in AI-written stories. The magazine received thousands of submissions in a matter of days, with the majority of them being created by artificial intelligence programs.
Neil Clarke, the editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, expressed concern in a recent blog post about the increasing number of AI-written stories being submitted to his publication. He noted that while some of the AI-generated stories were impressive, the majority of them were not of a high enough quality to be published. He also expressed concern about the potential impact on human writers, who may find it more difficult to get their work published if the market becomes saturated with AI-generated content.
“I’m not going to detail how I know these stories are “AI” spam or outline any of the data I have collected from these submissions. There are some very obvious patterns and I have no intention of helping those people become less likely to be caught. Furthermore, some of the patterns I’ve observed could be abused and paint legitimate authors with the same brush. Regional trends, for example,” said Clarke.
Clarke added that the percentage of spam submissions that result in bans has risen to 38% this month. While rejecting and banning these submissions has been simple, the number of submissions is increasing at a rate that will necessitate changes.
Clarke urged writers and publishers to consider the ethical implications of using AI in creative fields and to engage in a broader conversation about the role of technology in shaping the future of the arts.
The sources for this piece include an article in ZDNET.
