Bob's Stance on AI
I Spend A Lot Of Time Thinking About AI
If you look down at the bottom, you can see a bunch of panels and workshops I have spoken on about AI. It's a hot topic, so a lot of the conventions I do have panels on it. And being an author by night who works in tech by day, I am often tapped to speak.
Don't want to read an essay? Here is the core takeaway:
"AI Is Almost Always Bad For The Indie Creative Industry, And I Refuse To Use It In Any Way That Would Take Money From Another Creatives Pocket. That Said, There Is Nuance To All This, That Belies Easy Summation."
Let's be clear up front: I am not totally against AI. It is going to be an absolute game changer when it comes to things like medicine. Anything that helps keep my fat ass alive, I tend to be for. And working in state government, we struggle to hire qualified tech staff. So anything that we can bring in to help our overworked and underpaid employees be more efficient, I love.
But even there, there is nuance. I am against using AI to enable a company to shed staff. But here in state government, we are so chronically understaffed, there is no risk of that occurring, so I am for it (for now). If one of our programmers uses CoPilot to help them complete a project sooner, so they can get a little more work/life balance, go for it.
And that's the thing, this whole AI shebang has gotten so nuanced. And frankly, who am I to judge anyone for how they make their way through this late stage capitalist hellscape? So my stance is everyone has to devise their own ethical code around AI.
My Ethical Code For Using AI
So what is my stance on AI? In short: if my use of AI would take dollars out of another creatives pocket, then I will not use it. This means:
What I Won't Do or The Section That Will Get Bob Savaged By Some Folks
I will not *knowingly use AI in the creation of my book covers, promo images, etc. I will not use Midjourney/ChatGPT/etc to generate images for anything at all public facing. I once used it to make an image of Howard Marsh that I shared on my socials, back in the early days before I had put any thought into all this. Even though that was just a image shared on socials, that was not used in any commercial product, I don't want folks to get the wrong impression and assume I am endorsing AI art at the expense of real artists.
The caveat here is I do use vector subscription services and the like. If I suspect something is AI, I avoid it like the plague, but as AI gets better, I am sure eventually something will slip through the cracks unfortunately. When that day comes, and I learn of it, I will take down the image.
I will not use AI to replace my editor. I love my editor, and hope we work together for all of my career. But if she retires, then I will find another human editor. This is my biggest expense on each book, and while I hate having to pay any money, that's just my general state of being. I don't begrudge her a penny of it.
I don't use her for my zines, it just doesn't make financial sense, but even there I don't use AI. If Word/Google Docs doesn't catch it, well, then you get what you get. Hence the low price lol.
I will not use AI to do my audiobook narration. My narrator, John Solo, is fantastic. Yes, I make less money by doing royalty share with him, instead of AI. No, I don't care, he deserves a career doing what he loves just as much as I do.
I will not use AI to translate my novels. Not that this is high on my list of things to do, but eventually the plan is for my books to be translated. Translators deserve to have a job too.
I will not give any money to any of these companies; meaning I won't pay for a subscription to any AI service. It's pretty much all trained on stolen data, so I won't reward them by giving them money.
What I Will/Would Do or The Section That Will Get Bob Savaged By Different Folks
I would consider using generative AI to create an image to send to a cover artist, so they can have a better idea of the type of cover I want. I mean right now I make all my own covers, so it's a non-issue, but I can imagine instances where I might would do this, making it clear they are to use the image for inspiration, not in the actual final product.
I have used it occasionally for research purposes. Mostly at my day job, but, more rarely, also at home. I always do my due diligence to make sure it didn't just make some shit up, but there are times where Google fails me, and ChatGPT is able to track down what I need, in the context I need.
I have used AI when I get stuck making a list in some of my silly rpgs. Sometimes I can come up with 4 or 5 of the 6 things I need to make a chart. So I will use AI to help me brainstorm. I don't ever take specifics, and never use anything word for word. But I will use it to help me come up with the odd little idea or two.
Here is a specific example to illustrate how I have used it: I was trying to make a list of six types of plague doctors (don't ask, I never finished the game). I could come up with five. I told ChatGPT what I was trying to do, and it gave me a list of ideas. They were all terrible fits. So I tweaked the prompt, and it gave me an idea that I didn't use, but got my brain churning down a different path, and I came up with an idea that worked.
I have been told by someone who would know, that ChatGPT is actually really great at writing ad copy. I currently (poorly) write all my own ad copy. I can image circumstances where I could see myself using it. I haven't yet, and have no plans to though. It's something I will have to think on.
You see, this one of those places where I get hazy. There is no world in which I, a writer, am going to hire someone to write for me. But there are folks who write ad copy for a living. And while I would never hire one...would I technically be taking dollars out of their wallet by doing this? I would say no, but then by that logic, what would stop me from using AI to make my book covers, since I do that myself currently? See, nuance.
I would us it to help me prep for running an ttrpg. Ya boi is busy, and I dream of one day being able to play games consistently again. So I haven't yet, but I totally would use it to help me with my campaign prep.
I would use it to come up with character images for my writing, to help me stay consistent with description. I haven't done so yet, but I will probably do this at some point. But those will stay private, as I don't want folks using those images to inform their mental images from my books.
If I can get a GPT of my own, that I host, I would love to feed my books into it, and set up a 'Ask Howard Marsh A Question' bot on my website. I think that would be hilarious.
Big Picture Ethical Concerns or The Section That Will Get Bob Savaged By Anyone Who Hasn't Already Savaged Him
What About The Environment?
The impact on the environment is a real factor. And as a guy who is legit beginning to worry if he might one day become a climate refugee, I do struggle with this. But where I land on this is that the real problem is not me putting in math word problems into ChatGPT to help me with my kiddos homework, but the massive corporations who are destroying us a little more each day. I know some folks are gonna curse me for this, but frankly I only got so much bandwidth. I don't litter, I have organized trash pickups in the past, I recycle when given the chance. I do what I can. But sometimes I just need help, and AI gives me that help.
What About How AI Trains It's Models On Stolen Data
As a guy whose books were used to train multiple different LLMs, yeah, I'm salty about that. And using said AI's could be taken as an endorsement of the policies that led to my own books being ingested. Let me make it clear: I don't endorse these companies training on content they haven't received explicit permission to use. My hope is that eventually we start getting models that have been trained on data provided with consent, with the content creators being properly compensated. But we are probably a long way off from that. And even if that were the case, it would not alter my core ethical code of 'no AI usage that takes money away from other creatives.'
Workshops I have Taught On AI
Atlanta Self Publishing Conference, 2024: What Authors Need To Know About AI
See it HERE.
Panels I have Discussed AI On
AI: Changing the Game or Destroying the World - ConCarolinas 2024
How To Navigate the New AI Landscape as a Reader and Writer - ConCarolinas 2024
What Creatives Need To Know About AI - CONjuration 2024
AI and the Impact on Creatives - CONjuration 2023
Ethical Artistry: How to Relate to AI - Multiverse 2023
AI and What It Means for Horror Fiction - Multiverse 2023
AI & ChatGPT: The Impact on Content Creators - Dragon Con 2023
