AI
writing will inevitably replace human writers, and there’s nothing you can do
to stop it.
I’m sure
you’ve seen comments like this posted on social media over the last few years,
and it usually precedes an argument about which is better: AI-created
art/entertainment or that created by humans. After seeing someone post the
above (paraphrased) statement on my Facebook timeline, I realized I have a new
response to these sorts of comments.
Who
fucking cares?
I’m 61.
I’ve lived my entire life in a constantly changing world on the verge of
destruction by one means or another. They say AI is an existential threat.
Baby, the entire fucking universe is an existential threat, and it’s never been
otherwise. (And people wonder why I write dark fiction.) If AI does replace
human writing in all fields – and I’m not convinced it will – that won’t keep
me from writing. I write because I have to, because it’s the truest expression
of my Self, because it’s the only thing that uses all of my mind at once
(although teaching sometimes comes close), and most of all, because it’s fun. I’ve
continued writing through rejection, depression, illness, divorce, the death of
the midlist, several death-and-rebirth cycles of Horror, my first agent who
gave up on my novel after a year, my first novel contract getting cancelled… I
could go on, but if you’ve been writing for any length of time, you’ve got your
own list of obstacles you’ve overcome. If all of those things couldn’t stop me from
writing, why should an overhyped technological advancement?
And while
I’ve made it to my sixties, there’s no guarantee I won’t die as I’m typing
these words. (If I was handwriting this, this would be the point where my pen
would trail off down the page.) I’ve got too much to do in whatever time I have
left to worry about AI. But maybe you’re a younger writer with (hopefully) many
more years ahead of you than I have, and AI might seem like a real threat to
your establishing and maintaining a writing career.
Let’s talk.
·
Everything
dies. Not a cheery
thought, but it’s the truth. The second law of thermodynamics is the closest
thing to God we have. I often apply the deathbed test when I’m struggling with
a decision. When I’m on my deathbed, will I look back over my life and regret
not having done X? If you’d regret giving up on writing because of the rise of
AI, then fuck AI and write. Yes, it’s possible that AI-produced writing will
become the norm someday. Who cares? It’s what we do today that matters. Maybe
people in the future (assuming humanity has a future) will live to be
200, 300, or maybe even be immortal. Does that mean my 61 to (if I’m really
lucky) 100-year-long life was worthless? Of course not. So all the writing I
have produced in my life isn’t meaningless just because writing itself may be
different in the future.
·
But
sometimes things keep living – even if they occupy a different niche in the
world. There are
still blacksmiths, glassblowers, musicians who play medieval instruments, painters
of realism, stage actors… Manufacturing technology, instrument design and
construction, photography, and film haven’t entirely replaced those older
crafts. They’re still around, even if there isn’t as much demand for them
anymore (then again, there are renn faires). You know that old cliché that
parents say? “If your friends all jumped off a bridge, would you?” Well, turn
it around: “If none of your friends write without AI, would you?” Who gives a
shit what other people do? It’s what you do that matters.
·
It’s
always been hard to make a living in the arts. Maybe AI will make it harder for non-AI
writers to make money. I think that’s almost a certainty in business writing
and simple nonfiction. I already have students who write web articles and
listicles, and their editors often require them to use AI. But how many of you
reading this make all of your money solely from producing your art? (Not
counting any income a partner of yours brings in.) I never have, and I’ve been
writing and publishing for forty years. The vast majority of my income comes
from teaching. If I never made another cent from writing, the economic impact
on me would be negligible. Yes, some people support themselves solely with their
writing, even if they’re barely above the poverty level. (Author Tim Powers
once said that it’s easy to live as a freelance writer, “Once you learn to live
shabby.”) Maybe non-AI writers won’t be able to make a living from their art,
but most of us don’t now anyway, so what would really change for us? There are
plenty of literary writers and poets who know there’s almost no market demand
for their art, and they still produce it anyway. Maybe all non-AI writers will
be in the same situation one day, and that will suck, but the ones who need to
write will still write.
·
It’s
not inevitable that readers will prefer AI writing to human writing. The AI-vangelists and the AI doomsayers
both assume that AI writing will replace human writing. But that all depends on
humans themselves. Humans make choices for many reasons – psychological,
physical, environmental, societal… Humans will have to prefer AI writing
and choose it over non-AI writing. Dense, complex literary fiction that
focuses on character and setting more than plot (if there’s any plot at all)
exists, but the vast majority of readers aren’t interested in it. It doesn’t
give them what they want from a story (which is, first and foremost, story
itself). I’m not knocking literary fiction. I like it just fine, so don’t come
at me in the comments or on social media. But there’s a reason why lit fic
doesn’t often show up on the bestseller lists and why it usually doesn’t make
any money. The Horror boom of the 80s became the Horror bust of the 90s when
publishers started cranking out as many mediocre Horror novels as they could to
sate the public’s demand. Readers got tired of reading sub-par novels and
stopped buying Horror. The same thing could happen with AI writing. If people
don’t find AI writing satisfying, and they do find that human writing fulfills
their needs, that’s what they’ll read. People talk about supply and demand as
if it’s all about money, but it’s really about need and desire.
·
AI
will inevitably surpass human writers. People tend to believe that technology advances at a
constantly accelerating rate, but this isn’t always true. All you need to do is
take a look at old predictions of what people in the past thought (or hoped) the
future would be like. But we don’t have flying cars, bases on the moon and Mars,
intelligent robot companions, faster-than-light drive, etc. Technology can
plateau and remain at that level for a long time. While there have been
advancements in Windows, Word, PowerPoint, etc., they are essentially the same
programs they were decades ago. AI-vangelists (and people who predict the
Singularity occurring within a few years) are likely overly – if not wildly – optimistic
in their predictions. AI might plateau at a certain point and remain there for
a long time, perhaps a very long time. But even if AI continues to advance
and does so rapidly, the writing it produces won’t be better than what a human
creates. It will produce writing faster, and much of it might be as good as
what an average writer produces, but I doubt it will be able to truly simulate
the perspective of individual humans. It might be able to write for its own
experiences and perspective, though, and that would be very cool. But as I said
earlier about making a living from writing, more advanced AI might change the
market for writers (both traditionally published and indie writers). A friend
once told me that “There’s no difference between the average literary novel and
the average genre novel, except the average literary novel doesn’t get
published.” (He told me this before the advent of current self-publishing tech.)
A future of this quote might be “There is no difference between the average
AI-written piece and the average human-written piece, but the average
AI-written piece is produced faster and more cheaply.” (More cheaply in terms
of not paying writers, not in terms of AI’s energy and water usage.) Readers in
the future might still read human-written writing, but they might read only
high-quality work written from unique perspectives and/or interesting,
innovative techniques rather than run-of-the-mill prose.
·
There’s
no stopping AI. I
see people post on social media that “AI MUST BE STOPPED!” I never say anything
when I see such comments, but I always wonder how anyone can truly believe this
is possible. It’s like they’re standing on a beach, palms outstretched as a
gigantic wave rushes toward them, and shout, “THIS TSUNAMI MUST BE STOPPED!”
Good fucking luck with that. You can choose not to use AI or consume anything
it produces (although this will become more difficult as AI becomes more
embedded in society), but humans are tool-users, and if an effective new tool
is created, humans will rush to use it. It’s not “AI MUST BE STOPPED!” but “WE
MUST STOP EVERYONE IN THE HUMAN RACE FROM USING AI!” Ain’t gonna happen. The
college where I teach is going to incorporate AI into all its classes starting
this Fall. How and how much we’ll use it is unclear right now, but it’s
happening. And not just at my school. It’s happening everywhere.
Children will grow up using AI in all kinds of ways, and the tool will be
perfectly normal to them by the time they’re adults. I only use AI to the
extent I need to in my classes, and I try to inform students about the best choices
they can make when using AI. First, I tell them there is no ethical way to use
AI, and I explain how AI was trained on stolen material and how it consumes a
ton of energy and water (making it hugely wasteful). But then I tell them that
there’s no ethical way to use much of our technology, such as combustion engines.
People need to weigh the pluses and minuses of using technology for themselves
as individuals and for the world at large, and then make their own choices. I tell
them that their classes and jobs may require them to use AI one day soon, and
they’ll have to make choices about that, too. I show them an AI program, show
them how to write prompts, etc. Then I ask the AI program to tell the students
what it can do for them without writing their essays. Then I ask the program to
tell students what its limitations are in helping them with their writing. I
post both of these responses on our course page. This way, the AI program is
telling them how and how not to use it, not me. I think it’s worth everyone
trying out AI programs a bit just to familiarize yourself with the tech since
it’s rapidly becoming a common tool in society. And if you are rabidly anti-AI,
keep fighting the good fight, and if you lose in the end, you hopefully made
people consider their attitudes toward AI and how (or if) to use it, and that’s
no small thing.
·
No
AI was used in the production of this work. Some people are starting to use statements like this to
assure readers that their work is 100 percent human-written, like the labels
you see on various products in the grocery proclaiming them to be gluten-free,
no sugar added, 100 percent organic, no artificial sweeteners, etc. Not only is
a non-AI statement a promise to customers, it’s also an effective statement of your
values. And likely, more effective than posting FUCK AI! on social media. It’s
a positive statement that makes no criticism of AI or of others who may use AI.
People tend to respond better to positive sales messages than negative ones
(especially ones that don’t explicitly or implicitly criticize them).
·
Keep
living your best writing life. If
the world keeps changing around me until I’m the last writer on Earth not using
AI, so be it. I’m going to keep writing my stories my way and be thankful I
lived at a time when I could do so. That will be enough for me. But if nothing
else, don’t let your feelings about the advent of AI-assisted writing take up
so much of your mental and emotional energy that you find it hard (and maybe
impossible) to write. Don’t let the existence of AI impede your creativity because
then it really will win. Keep writing, you brilliant, beautiful humans.
DEPARTMENT
OF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION
Conan:
Spawn of the Serpent God
I have a
Conan the Barbarian novel coming from Titan Books in October! It was a hell of
a lot of fun to write, and I hope fans of sword-and-sorcery action will enjoy
it.
You can
find various preorder links at the Titan Books site: https://titanbooks.com/72365-conan-spawn-of-the-serpent-god/
Synopsis:
In
Zamora, the city of thieves, Conan meets Valja, a thrill-seeking thief. She
entices him to join
her on a
heist, where they steal a golden statuette of Ishtar, said to contain the
goddess herself.
After
killing a dozen guards and failing to escape, the pair are saved by priestesses
of Mitra. But
Conan
knows that nothing is free.
The
priestesses have need of their skills. They have waged war against Set, god of
chaos and
serpents,
who demands constant sacrifice from his subjects and massacred thousands of his
followers.
Yet they are no match for Uzzeran, a powerful sorcerer, who has been performing
unspeakable
experiments on humans in the name of Set. To defeat Uzzeran, they will need a
legendary
warrior on their side. They need Conan the Barbarian.
The
World Turns Red
My new
horror novella, The World Turns Red, is unleashed upon the world, and so
far the reviews have been great! Here’s a sampling:
“A dark,
disturbing masterpiece worth binge-reading in one sitting.” – S.E. Howard
“This is
a very dark, intense read with a surreal quality that pulled me in from page
one and held me spellbound to the bitter end.” – Well Worth a Read
“The
World Turns Red is another in a long line of brilliant horror work by Tim
Waggoner. There was never anyone who could blend the real with the surreal so
seamlessly that, as wild as the story gets, it makes perfect sense somehow. Now
THAT takes one hell of a writer. The book is a flawless masterpiece…6 out of 5
stars.” – Carson Buckingham
Welcome
to the meat room.
At first,
it’s a whisper on the edge of your consciousness.
As it
gets louder, you begin to make out words—dark, sharp, dangerous words… You clap
your hands over your ears to shut them out, but you can’t escape what comes
from inside you.
The voice
tells you to do things to yourself. Bad things. Awful things…
The
longer you listen, the more they seem reasonable. Desirable.
Inevitable.
And as
you reach for the nearest knife, gun, or rope, the voice speaks the last four
words you’ll ever hear:
All
hail the Unhigh.
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/5cabrjn2
Barnes
& Noble: https://tinyurl.com/kzphuep7
Dark
Tides 21: 24 Frames Per Second
I’m
thrilled to have another new novella in the latest volume of Crystal Lake
Publishing’s Dark Tide Series – 24 Frames Per Second – alongside Andrew
Naldony and Gary A. Braunbeck.
Step into
the terrifying world of Hollywood horror, where the line between fiction and
reality blurs, and the consequences of cinematic creation become all too real.
In 24 Frames Per Second, three chilling novellas bring to life the
darkest corners of the movie industry—where horror isn’t just confined to the
screen.
“The Last
Cannibal Movie” by Tim Waggoner: A group of student filmmakers embark on a
project to create a cannibal holocaust film—but soon, their fictional nightmare
begins to unfold in real life. As their imagined horrors come to life, they
must face the terrifying reality of their own creation.
“I Am the
Rainbringer” by Andrew Nadolny: A woman is transformed into a serial killer by
her father’s dying wish, and her husband turns her deadly past into a movie.
But the ghosts of his parents—and her brutal history—soon rise to haunt them
both, blurring the line between the living and the dead in a nightmare that
can’t be escaped.
“This Is
Not My Movie” by Gary A. Braunbeck: After a movie theater is consumed by fire,
the charred ruins become a nexus for ghosts and alternate realities. A haunting
tale of how a beloved movie theater's destruction births a dark, sentient
force, trapping the souls of those killed in the blaze.
In 24
Frames Per Second, horror reaches beyond the screen and becomes part of the
fabric of reality, where the true cost of creation is more horrifying than any
fictional tale. Each novella is a unique exploration of terror, art, and the
boundaries of reality, set against the backdrop of Hollywood’s darkest secrets.
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/8u7jh8f
Barnes
& Noble: https://tinyurl.com/873tj3vj
“And
You Will Live in Horror Forever”
I have a new short story in the latest issue of Cthonic Matter. If you’re unfamiliar with the journal, here’s a description from their submission page: “Chthonic Matter is a quarterly offering of tales from the darkside. Its contents range in tone from the quiet horror of Shirley Jackson to the bleak stylings of Thomas Ligotti — and everything in between.” I’m proud to be part of such a cool publication!
https://chthonicmatter.wordpress.com/chthonicmatter/
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/45sb5b73
All
Roads Lead to Hell
PIC
My story
“No One Sings in the City of the Dead” appears in this anthology. (Full
disclosure: the tale is a reprint.) From the publisher:
This
anthology, composed of 11 tales of terror by the authors of Winding Road
Stories, will remind you that it's not where you begin but where you end. And
in the world of horror, all roads lead to hell.
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/5hap3wyy
SCHEDULED
APPEARANCES
San Diego
Comic Con. July 24-27. San Diego, California.
Gencon
Writers’ Symposium. July 31st to August 3rd. Indianapolis, Indiana.
WHERE
TO FIND ME ONLINE
Want to
follow me on social media? Here’s where you can find me:
Website: www.timwaggoner.com
Newsletter
Sign-Up: https://timwaggoner.com/contact.htm
Blog: http://writinginthedarktw.blogspot.com/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/timwaggonerswritinginthedark
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/133838.Tim_Waggoner
Instagram:
tim.waggoner.scribe
Threads:
@tim.waggoner.scribe@threads.net
Bluesky: @timwaggoner.bsky.social
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