As an author, I've certainly been looking at generative AI as a potential friend and as a potential enemy. And so far, I've realized that it's both. ### My general philosophy on generative AI (text versions) Authors are scared. They know that people are using AI to write books faster and make more money while doing it. My thoughts on this topic are a little different compared to my thoughts on [[AI Image Generation]]. So I'm using a different approach. "Writers" who use AI to generate their entire stories are not writers, authors, novelists, or any other word related to those titles. They are opportunists who only care about money. Readers are smart. They can tell when something isn't right in a story. They point out plot holes, they can spot wonky grammar from a mile away. They can pick out problems with characters changing their personality or having no personality at all. Does anyone really think that they won't be able to figure out that a robot wrote the majority of a book? When it comes to digital art, the average person can't point out what's AI and what isn't and that is a problem. Even I have been tricked and I have a pretty damn good eye. But a picture is worth a thousand words and a novel is worth at least 60,000 words. If AI struggles with a thousand, how do you think it does with more than 60 times that amount? There's another issue with stories written by AI. They can't be copyrighted. So, anyone could take a published story written by AI, slap a new cover on it and sell it with no consequences. ### So, what can authors do about generative text AI's? Use them. But not in the way others are using them. Use them when you're stuck to generate ideas, give you different options for a sentence or paragraph you're struggling with. Use them to give you ideas, but add your own twist. Use them to come up with side characters or to give your main characters more depth. Text generation doesn't have to write the story for you, it can help you by being a tool in your writer kit. It can help you step outside your comfort zone. It can push you to be more creative. It can start a domino effect in that blocked brain we all get from time to time. *USE* generative AI, not as a ghost writer, but as you'd use a thesaurus, a dictionary, a random plot generator, a content editor, etc. The best part? You make all the decisions. You write the book. You create something you can be proud of...and maybe do it faster than you've ever done it before. That's how you make money and that's how you keep readers from getting bored with you or complaining about weird plot points or character changes that don't make sense.