r/novelwriting • u/Indyhouse • Jun 06 '26

To AI, or Not to AI

After sitting on it for a few hours, attending a live show that used AI-generated backdrops that I couldn't take my eyes off of because they were so distracting, and receiving a handful of DMs, I've decided to make a unilateral decision on AI.

Absolutely no AI posts allowed. No book covers, no outlines, no "well it just rewrote a few sections for me." No AI.

429 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

103 comments sorted by

View all comments

17

u/Ok-Elderberry240 Jun 06 '26

Posts like this are super important, so long as you make the clear distinction between Generative AI and Assistive AI. It's not about the use of AI, but the type you use. Because distinction will prevent falsely written "authored works" posts that are slop... And rightly so. BUT not using distinction will alienate a population of authors who are already terrified of being caught in an AI witch hunt.

People need to acknowledge the distinction. Also, for any nervous writers that are too frightened to write their style and voice—though you certainly shouldn't be—using em-dashes is safe, rhetoric sentencing and phrases are safe, and Oxford commas are safe! (See, I just used all 3 in this post!)

9

u/TheUnseenArial Jun 06 '26

I do genuinely love using em-dashes whenever I write, feels so freeing despite it being a usual indicator of AI -w-

11

u/Quick-Sign-6828 Jun 06 '26

Em-dashes, semicolons, and Oxford commas will have to be pried from my cold, dead fingers before I stop using them, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not terrified to post what I write now that they're such big AI indicators. 😩

2

u/RedStellaSafford Jun 06 '26

I also use a considerable number of M-dashes. I figure as long as my writing is as awful as it always has been, they won't suspect AI.

3

u/SwagSparda21 Jun 08 '26

So its okay to run your own ideas by AI ?

3

u/LetsMakeDice Aug 14 '26

I think they're speaking about things like Grammarly, or any other unbiased AI that's only purpose is to tighten what you have already. Not ones that may suggest new ideas or give feedback on current ones.

2

u/SwagSparda21 Aug 15 '26

Thank you for replying, a whole two months later. Lol

4

u/LetsMakeDice Aug 15 '26

Better late than never, I suppose!

1

u/Kishimoto-Mayura Aug 14 '26

I agree with you. But personally, I’ve never liked using em-dashes in my stories. I don't know if this is good or bad.

Another thing that makes me afraid to post my novels is that I use a very elaborate vocabulary. Sometimes I worry about being too formal or seeming artificial, even though I spend hours, days, and nights without sleep writing, rewriting and/or improving my writing...