It's AI all the way down. The publishing world is dealing with some fundamental shifts, thanks to ChatGPT. That this technology is unfathomably game-changing, and I mean unfathomably quite literally, is an understatement.
Before we dive a bit deeper (can't go too far into the rabbit hole), a few housekeeping things:
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- We've so far published 3 original stories and 1 original poem! If you missed these, head over here. 2 of the stories have been submitted to the Nebula Reading List (thank you to the folks who added them to the list!)
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Back to original programming...
The game being changed is what we consider authorship, copyright, ownership, and ultimately what's considered original. You, dear Frivolous, being writers and readers, have some homework to do. Think back to what you've read online in the last few weeks, and assess if you think most of them were written by a human author entirely, assisted by an AI resource, or entirely written by the AI resource itself. How do you feel about this?
Right now, there's no automatic mechanism to tag AI generated content as such. When FC reopens submissions, we'll be updating our AI/generative text policy, but will also spend time evaluating if a submission was authored by a human, AI, or if it was AI-assisted. It's very much an honor system, and different magazines are setting policies that run the range of outright banning AI submissions to allowing AI-assisted stories.
This isn't just limited to ChatGPT; AI art is also complicated. Just one example:
Additionally, the US Copyright office has already provided certain guidance into what they'll consider copyrightable work: it needs to have human authorship.
There are two sides to this: from a publisher's standpoint, we want to value and reward human creativity and effort, and definitely don't want to accept stories fully generated via AI. From a writer's perspective, I know folks who use AI to help with unblocking scenes or re-working paragraphs.
I haven't decided yet where FC will land on this as a policy, but the guiding principle of FC is to provide a platform for amplifying fresh stories and perspectives from new writers. A purist read of that would insist on a "human authorship" stance. But do I care of writers used some AI to help? And how will I know?
Onto the three things!
We Are Electric by Sally Adee
I heard Sally Adee talking about the "electrome", as she calls it, on NPR and was pretty instantly absorbed. That electricity is something we contain with ourselves and we've successfully manipulated our bioelectricity, via pacemakers or brain stimulation and such, Adee's exploration provides the context of what else could be going on. As she notes, its very early stages in this research, but there's quite a lot of learning required, but a significant amount of practical promise. There was one question that has stuck with me, which I paraphrase, "How exactly do our bodies know the shape and structure of itself as it develops from cells to more?" That the eyes should be in front of the face where (what is the front?), but above the nose and not near the mouth? Seems bioelectricity might have something to do with that.
Servant Mage by Kate Elliot
I've been a bit slow this year with reading things that are not short stories, but I did get a chance to read this one. It's a deeply imagined story about a mage who lives under an empire that has persecuted mages and sorcerers with various powers. The premise of that oppression is a common one, that people with innate abilities shouldn't be allowed to live privileged lives the rest can't share in. Of course, in true empire fashion, this is a statement coming from a group interested in simply redefining privilege to better its own fortunes rather than bringing about true equality.
The story and the the universe Elliot's created is detailed and very obviously large. It's actually too dense in this way; at the end of it, there was too much packed in and not enough time as a reader to settle on the aspects of the world, especially its history. I do recommend the book but with the caveat that you shouldn't let the smaller word count fool you; take your time with it and Elliot's worldbuilding will endear itself to you.
Frivolous Tunes on Spotify
We decided to check in with our writers and podcast guests and find out what music keeps them going. We've started compiling a playlist for the "first season" of our creators. Click on the link and check it out! We'll be adding to this for the rest of 2023 so keep an eye out for new additions.
Quick parting note (a quick cross-promo):
I think I've given you all plenty to chew on so I'll leave it there. Spread the word and invite your friends & family to subscribe. FYI, I want to hear from you. Reply to this and tell me what works, what doesn't, and send me new resources you feel are helping you in your creation/consumption journey.
Cheers,
Chi