Human-written
Well, I did plan to write today but then I saw something online that set my head on fire. So, I took a walk with the dog for a bit, calmed down… and then came back inside with something to say.
What this is not? This is not an AI is ruining everything diatribe. It’s more a cause and effect to me creating a new page for my website… one where I plant a flag and place a clear demarcation line. I tried to create this new page with some personal reflection, not accusatory.
I think this will resonate with many, anger some, and provide some food for thought for those who don’t see the issue clearly just yet. So, here goes.
The book market has an issue. We all know this. What is it? The introduction of scale into a market that must resist it. AI doesn’t create slop on its own, but it industrializes the temptation. When someone uses AI to assist with writing (prompting) 200 books in one month, that has a snowball effect on everything around those books. If one doesn’t adapt and prompt back 200 books of their own, they lose. This can’t work. It’s not sustainable by any human.
Books are by their nature long to create, long to read, and sometimes a lifetime to absorb. Industrialization of the temptation of scale in a market whose product is counterproductive to scale creates a wave of uncertainty, backlash, and wholesale squashing of real human voices.
So, what am I doing about it? I’m planting a flag. And that flag states one thing. That my books are human-written. I took the time this morning to put a new page on my website explaining how I write and why. Human-written. For a human. On purpose. Not everyone will like it. That’s fine.
Let me clarify further though, because I know this is a very heated topic. This isn’t anti-tool. It’s anti-abdication. Big word. What does that mean?
Anti-abdication means:
You stay accountable for the choices
You decide when a sentence is done
You accept the cost of time, friction, doubt, revision
It’s the writer saying: I optimize for meaning, even when the tools would let me skip it. That’s anti-abdication. So, this new page is me saying the following:
Authorship is a responsibility
Convenience isn’t a moral shield
A human has to stay at the wheel, not let the car veer wherever it may
Why should writers say this? Because readers can feel when something is off. They will think:
This feels hollow
This feels rushed
This feels like nothing was at stake, lifeless words
So, this is where I stand. This is the line. If you are an author, I would implore you to take this stand as well. If you are a reader, demand better, demand something human. Stand with the flag: Human-written. For a human. On purpose.