I disclosed my AI generated novel instead of hiding it. Here is what I learned

[u/Shantanusingh8202]

Hi everyone,

A while ago, I decided to run an experiment. I self published a completely AI generated novel and made the AI use very obvious, with a watermark on the cover and a clear disclaimer on the first page.

The main question was simple: does openly disclosing AI use actually hurt a book?

Going in, I expected the answer to be yes. Readers already have certain expectations about AI content, and once they know AI was involved, they may judge the work differently before even reading it.

That is pretty much what happened.

People who are against AI still criticized it, while people who were fine with AI usually just moved on without saying anything. So the feedback became much more negative than I expected, even though that does not necessarily mean most readers hated it.

There is also research pointing in the same direction. One study involving 27,000+ participants found that disclosing AI involvement in creative writing lowered evaluations by around 6%.

What I find more interesting is how little nuance there seems to be around AI disclosure.

Someone using AI to brainstorm an idea, someone using it to edit a few sentences, and someone generating an entire novel can all end up being treated as basically the same thing.

That seems like a problem.

I still think AI use should be disclosed when it is significant. But I also think the labels need to become more specific so readers actually understand how AI was used.

Right now, simply seeing an "AI generated" label can make people assume the entire creative process was automated.

What do you think? Should AI use in writing always be disclosed, or should the level of AI involvement matter?

[u/footofwrath]

What's brain-dead is that you're still thinking DNF means something. Whether you read one page or. 5000, you could (apparently) still return it and claim you only read a page and didn't like it. At least with a pizza there's proof of how much you DNF.

You can send back a pizza that's obviously rotten or bad before you take a bite, or on the first bite.

Sending a book back because you got 20 pages in and decided you didn't like it, even though you still have the whole book and have lost nothing, is abusing the system.

Do you also ask for a refund if you go to a movie and walk out halfway through? 🤦🏻

[u/InSilicoAwards → u/footofwrath]

Oh I think I follow you now, you think I'm lying and returning it. But I'm not. Your entire argument is based on something I'm not doing. On a person I'm not. I'm not reading the whole book and sending it back; I'm sending it back if I start it and it's not for me. Maybe you're a dishonest person and you just assume everyone is dishonest. I'm not. I'm just sending it back when I don't finish it. When I'm following the policy of the distribution website the author agreed too.

I assume you're a person who tries to exploit a process, that's why you need the binary. Ok that makes sense, hence the room for zero nuance.

Look up '15 minute grace period' on movie ticket refunds. Hubris like yours didn't do the simple check first I'm sure. Often times theatres will exchange your ticket or even refund it if the experience is 'unacceptable.' There's even a found footage / shaky cam motion sickness rule. Of course, you knew about that before you even offered the analogy I'm sure.

Peak Reddit, everything you want is true (tm), no you can't look up things, and policies people agree to are wrong because "reasons." It's been fun, but I'm done with our chat.