April 2023 Newsletter, Volume 177

Post Header

Published:

2023-05-09 17:00:16 UTC

Translations:

Tags:

Banner of a paper airplane emerging from an envelope with the words 'OTW Newsletter: Organization for Transformative Works

I. FANLORE NEWS

Fanlore has been working on making page outlines more accessible and making guidelines and practices more visible to new editors. Accordingly, there is a new Help page, Help:Non-English Language Content, now available on Fanlore. Fans are also welcome to get assistance via the Fanlore Discord server. Fanlore held an editing chat there focused on link archiving on April 29.

II. AT THE AO3

In April, the OTW celebrated the 11 millionth fanwork being posted to AO3! Communications’ social media-only announcement of this milestone spread speedily after it dropped. Thank you to everyone who’s shown AO3 and the OTW your support this month!

Open Doors announced the import of The ARC, an archive of Primeval fanfiction, while Policy & Abuse received a little less than 2,000 tickets and Support received about 1,600 tickets in April. Meanwhile, in March, Tag Wrangling wrangled more than 440,000 tags across more than 57,000 fandoms, more than a thousand tags per active wrangler!

III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW

Finance posted the 2023 budget ahead of the April Drive. The Drive was coordinated by Development & Membership with support from Communications and Translation, who translated all Drive posts, including the budget, and related graphics into 32 languages. Thanks to the generosity of 7852 people from 71 countries, 6450 of whom chose to begin or renew an OTW membership, the OTW raised a total of US$252,343.98!

Elections was busy in April preparing for the 2023 Board of Directors election. The Election Timelineis now available on Elections’ website. Stay posted for more information in the coming months!

In April, Legal Chair Betsy Rosenblatt participated in the first of the U.S. Copyright Office listening sessions on artificial intelligence and copyright law. This listening session was a great opportunity to provide information, help frame U.S. lawmakers’ questions about future policy decisions, and learn about technology and practice so that the OTW can make its own policy decisions about how to approach questions about AI. Legal will be doing more in this area in the coming months.

The Board of Directors published the minutes for its latest meeting on March 27. They can be accessed on the Minutes page on the OTW website.

IV. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PEEPS

From 25 March to 24 April, Volunteers & Recruiting received 109 new requests, and completed 103, leaving us with 57 open requests (including induction and removal tasks listed below).

As of 24 April 2023, the OTW has 882 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.

New AO3 Documentation Volunteers: Kate G, Miki Mizuami, Mo & 2 other Editors
New Communications Volunteers: Szabo Dorottya (Fanhackers Lead) & 3 Fanhackers Volunteers
New Open Doors Volunteers: Charlie167, Phia, Teo and 6 other Import Assistants
New Translation Volunteers: Irina Gostraya (News Translator)
New Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: Amy2 (Projects Volunteer)

Departing Communications Volunteers: Szabo Dorottya (Fanhackers Volunteer role only)
Departing Fanlore Volunteers: 1 Social Media & Outreach Volunteer
Departing Open Doors Volunteers: 1 Administrative Volunteer
Departing Tag Wrangler Volunteers: Rosa V, Sarah Fox, Satie, Sunshijne, Fynn, EJ Bell, nolightss, and 23 other Tag Wrangling Volunteers
Departing Translation Volunteers: Ana Gomes, Cinna_moon, Demeter, Harold Liu & 6 other Translators
Departing TWC Volunteers: 1 Copyeditor, 1 Symposium Editor
Departing Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: Amy2 (Volunteer role only), Georgia (Volunteer)

For more information about the purview of our committees, please access the committee listing on our website.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Actions

Comments

Sorry, this news post doesn't allow comments.

Pages Navigation

Nightcandle Tue 09 May 2023 05:53PM UTC

Thank you for another informative Newsletter and Wooho to 11 Million fanworks! 🥳

Comment Actions
- Thread
poorly_animated Thu 11 May 2023 05:29PM UTC

Regarding AI: if OTW decides to allow AI to scrape fanworks on Ao3 for machine learning, I will be removing all of my works from this website. I'm incredibly disappointed and disturbed by the statements from Legal about this subject and can't believe your team would betray the trust of your users so blatantly. I do not consent for my hard work to be scraped up by machines. I do not write to educate machines. Allowing AI to scrape fics is allowing strangers to profit off the work we all do for free, and I, for one, will not be participating in that. It will be frustrating to remove 81 fics and determine how else to organize a multifandom fic writing event, but I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out. Please do not allow AI into our fics. You are making an enormous mistake if you do.

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. monarch_of_anime_simping Fri 12 May 2023 12:15PM UTC
  
  couldnt say it better ^
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
2. Ardate Fri 12 May 2023 12:57PM UTC
  
  Literally this ^^^^
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
3. blindinkpoet Fri 12 May 2023 01:08PM UTC
  
  This. All of this.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
4. kinokoikko Fri 12 May 2023 03:33PM UTC
  
  I concur
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
5. EvelynRaith Fri 12 May 2023 06:42PM UTC
  
  100% this. There will be a mass exodus if they allow this.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
6. IonaWestray Fri 12 May 2023 08:12PM UTC
  
  Ditto! I'll take my works elsewhere if they allow AI scraping.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
7. rubyroth Sat 13 May 2023 01:27AM UTC
  
  It's already been scraped. If you post on any public website, you've been scraped. It's not the matter of Ao3 allowing scraping or not--the crawler bots are designed to grab every little bit of publicly available data it can get its metaphorical hands on.
  In fact, in a recent update, Ao3 has restricted common crawl, one of the biggest sources used for AI: https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/24844
  "[AO3-6436] - We updated our robots.txt file to disallow Common Crawl from scraping the Archive."
  A determined programmer can make a bot can get passed it, but it's not Ao3's fault if that happens.
  I'm disappointed by the interview too, but the scraping ship has already sailed.
  
  Last Edited Sat 13 May 2023 01:30AM UTC
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
gildedfrost Thu 11 May 2023 07:37PM UTC

I can't say i'm a fan of these takes from OTW's legal chair:
"Now, machine learning is turning to broader sources from across the internet, including fan works. That means that machines will learn how to describe and express a much more contemporary, broad, inclusive, and diverse set of ideas."
"As for what keeps me up at night, I remain mostly optimistic. I think it would be a very sad turn of events if some of the newly begun litigation about data crawling and scraping ended up preventing machines from building contemporary, inclusive, broad-based data pools to draw on."
The point isn't whether the data we provide makes the AIs more inclusive and diverse. The point is whether it's ethical to take and use our data when we don't consent.
Quality data sets can be generated and provided for AI use in ethical ways, such as opt-in options to have a writer's works used for AI training or content specifically created for the purpose of training AIs. Scraping data without regard for the consent or ethics of the original writers is one of the big issues here, especially when generative AIs rehash and regurgitate pieces of the data they were trained on. In some cases the output may not be similar enough as a whole to infringe anyone's rights, but even bits and pieces make it upsetting.
While I have a lot of thoughts about the use of generative AI in general, when it comes to AO3, I want to know what is being done, if anything, to prevent unethical data scraping and shifting towards an ethical model such as opt-in consent. I understand that tools to make the archive unscrapable may not be viable, but from a perspective of legal protections, what is being done? Is there any plan? Does AO3/OTW plan to take a stance on unethical data scraping for the purpose of feeding data to generative AI?

Last Edited Thu 11 May 2023 07:38PM UTC

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. gildedfrost Thu 11 May 2023 07:43PM UTC
  
  For clarification this was from this interview.
  
  Last Edited Thu 11 May 2023 08:30PM UTC
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
2. gildedfrost Fri 12 May 2023 08:10PM UTC
  
  Side question: People are locking their fics to prevent scraping, but it's my understanding that scraping tools can easily bypass login requirements on many sites. Can AO3 advise whether or not locking fics to registered users reduces or prevents scraping?
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
3. 1. LaikaFlash Sat 13 May 2023 12:12AM UTC
    
    At full risk of sounding like a complete downer, I don't see a feasible way to stop scrapers anywhere at all. As far as datasets are concerned, the internet as a whole is a mine to be extracted from.
    
    Comment Actions
    - Thread
    - Parent Thread
  2. 1. gildedfrost Sat 13 May 2023 01:25AM UTC
      
      Some bots are not configured to get past certain barriers, and I suspect some bots (but definitely not all) may respect certain barriers that say not to scrape, so at least deterrants can be put in place. I'm just interested to know if locking fics adds a deterrant as some people seem to think.
      
      Comment Actions
      - Thread
      - Parent Thread
    2. 1. LaikaFlash Sat 13 May 2023 01:52AM UTC
        
        I can't say for certain since I've never archive-locked my fics (because I'd rather not restrict access for a small fandom to begin with).
        
        Comment Actions
        
        Thread
        
        Parent Thread
      2. gildedfrost Sat 13 May 2023 02:40AM UTC
        
        Understandable. The question was directed towards AO3 anyway, rather than users.
        
        Comment Actions
        
        Thread
        
        Parent Thread
  3. Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 12:50AM UTC
    
    Considering all the scraping was done years ago, no. Locking fics does nothing.
    
    Comment Actions
    - Thread
    - Parent Thread
  4. 1. gildedfrost Sat 13 May 2023 01:19AM UTC
      
      Scraping isn't a one-and-done thing by a single entity; it can be done more than once and by more than one bot. I understand nothing can be done about prior scrapes and that they are only one step in the process that AI uses, of course.
      
      Comment Actions
      - Thread
      - Parent Thread
    2. 1. Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 01:39AM UTC
        
        The big companies, like OpenAI, have already got their data sets and aren't too concerned about increasing them. Their focus now is on refining the AI itself to make better use of the available data. And there's not nearly enough new data since the past scrapes to make adding new data relevant, plus it introduces the risk of causing recursive loop learning (training AI learning on AI generated data). There may still be some AI learning related scraping happening, but it's statistically insignificant.
        And if any of the AI developers suddenly decide they do want more data, they can just scrape the Internet Archive for it and completely ignore AO3. So locking fics after they've been archived is pointless anyway.
        
        Comment Actions
        
        Thread
        
        Parent Thread
      2. gildedfrost Sat 13 May 2023 01:45AM UTC
        
        That doesn't mean nobody is ever going to scrape AO3 again. So I want to know what AO3 has in place to prevent or reduce scraping.
        
        Comment Actions
        
        Thread
        
        Parent Thread
        
        Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 01:47AM UTC
        
        They literally added a "do not crawl" to the servers months ago. Which is all they CAN do.
        
        Comment Actions
        
        Thread
        
        Parent Thread
        
        gildedfrost Sat 13 May 2023 02:38AM UTC
        
        I'm aware of that step. It has no bearing on my question about locked fics and whether or not they have any security differences re: scraping.
        
        Comment Actions
        
        Thread
        
        Parent Thread
        
        Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 02:47AM UTC
        
        They don't. If someone wants to scrape locked fics they just need to make an account for their bot.
        
        Comment Actions
        
        Thread
        
        Parent Thread
        
        gildedfrost Sat 13 May 2023 03:28AM UTC
        
        I’m interested in a response from AO3 regarding their security measures, as stated in my initial comment where I posed this question. I do not feel like this thread is productive at this point since you do not have the insight into AO3’s coding and security measures that would be needed to answer this question, and your responses are coming from different angles than the information I am asking about. Please stop interacting with me on this thread.
        
        Comment Actions
        
        Thread
        
        Parent Thread
        
        Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 03:44AM UTC
        
        You asked if locking a fic can stop scraping. You don't need to be affiliated with AO3 to know the answer to that is no. Your condescending arrogance doesn't change that.
        
        Comment Actions
        
        Thread
        
        Parent Thread
Zumberge Thu 11 May 2023 08:27PM UTC

To what advantage would it be to the users of AO3 to have their works used for AI learning? What benefits, if any, would it provide to us?

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 01:45AM UTC
  
  Improved AI tools.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
2. 1. Zumberge Sat 13 May 2023 02:06AM UTC
    
    No, that's a benefit to the people who own the AI. The users of the site gain nothing, especially since the site doesn't use AI to begin with.
    I'm sorry if I sound a bit monomaniacal but if it isn't good for the users as a whole, it isn't good for AO3.
    
    Comment Actions
    - Thread
    - Parent Thread
  2. 1. Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 02:23AM UTC
      
      Improved tools doesn't help the owner of the AI at all. They don't use them. Writers use them. Spelling and grammar correction. Language translation. Alternate word suggestions. Generating ideas to overcome writers block. These are all ways writers here can benefit, and there's plenty of other ways to use AI that isn't just "insert prompt, paste result."
      
      Comment Actions
      - Thread
      - Parent Thread
MissChrisDaae Thu 11 May 2023 08:42PM UTC

The comments about AI scraping are horrendous. In order to keep this site here, authors are legally prohibited from asking for any money for ourselves and the works we create out of love, time, and effort, but some jerk could choose to scrape our work and use it to churn out pale imitations and turn a profit, and the legal chair is just shrugging it off? This is the Archive of Our Own, I thought that meant it was about creating a space that would let fans celebrate their passion, not fear predatory exploitation of it!

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. AshToSilver Fri 12 May 2023 04:47PM UTC
  
  This is a good point! This is absolutely exploitation of our work :/
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
2. wordbending Fri 12 May 2023 05:37PM UTC
  
  Absolutely agreed.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
BlazingWorld Thu 11 May 2023 09:47PM UTC

I am another AO3 user unhappy with the talk of AI data scraping. Are you going to let users opt out of this? If not, I am going to remove my works. I agree with poorly_animated on the ethics of the situation.

Comment Actions
- Thread
Ischemia Thu 11 May 2023 10:21PM UTC

If AI scraping starts happening here with the blessing of the OTW then I'm deleting my fics from here. Very disturbing to see Legal discuss the theft of people's hard work and passion as fodder for machines that are already starting to be threatened by companies to replace writers. Saying this during the WGA strike too is in incredibly poor taste.

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. luxurias Thu 11 May 2023 10:25PM UTC
  
  ^ seconding all of this.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
2. 1. Helduath Thu 11 May 2023 11:33PM UTC
    
    Same here, my work is no free content to train AI.
    
    Comment Actions
    - Thread
    - Parent Thread
3. Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 05:00AM UTC
  
  Starts? AO3 would have been scraped years ago. Though in recent months they've taken steps to prevent scraping by Common Crawl, one of the main AI dataset scrapers.
  Also, it's not theft any more than someone else reading your fic is theft.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
Account Deleted Thu 11 May 2023 11:40PM UTC

Sad that I feel like I'll have to remove my works from this site soon. The fact that the OTW has decided to exploit their user base, especially when we are not legally allowed to seek any monetary gain from fanfiction while AI can steal our work for monetary gain, is vile. I've loved AO3 for years and have considered it the last relatively safe space on the internet, but it's clear I was wrong. You just didn't have a viable way to exploit all of your users until now. Disgusting.

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. AngellTheNinth Fri 12 May 2023 04:02PM UTC
  
  Thankfully this is just one person's opinion but if they do this then yeah, I'll be deleting too, this is a gross betrayal of trust
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
2. 1. Account Deleted Fri 12 May 2023 06:01PM UTC
    
    Yeah, that gives me some hope, but now that it's come out that one person on the team thinks this way, I worry about how many others might, too. It's very disheartening that anyone working with the OTW would want something like this happening with fanworks.
    
    Comment Actions
    - Thread
    - Parent Thread
AriadneKurosaki Fri 12 May 2023 12:08AM UTC

I'm deeply concerned about the remarks made by OTW's Legal Chair regarding her "excitement" about AI in her February interview. Recognizing that these remarks are not an official policy position of OTW, it's still dismaying that the OTW/AO3 would promote her position - and that it would not do so until after its wildly successful April fundraiser. It's even more concerning that the same person who made those remarks "participated in the first of the U.S. Copyright Office listening sessions on artificial intelligence and copyright law", given her apparent position.
If OTW stands for the protection and promotion of transformative works, and takes the position that fanfic authors' legal protection is grounded in part by the fact that we don't charge for our work, it seems strange indeed that the person in charge of OTW's legal advocacy work would be excited about the ability of for-profit tech companies to be able to use those works to "train" (and plagiarize, because they will inevitably do that) their code work.
Recognizing that Ms. Rosenblatt is a volunteer for AO3 and not a paid employee, of course the Board of OTW cannot constrain her from giving interviews, but the format of the article and the use of OTW branding seems to indicate that the Board, or at least other volunteers at OTW, endorse these remarks.

Comment Actions
- Thread
Account Deleted Fri 12 May 2023 12:08AM UTC

I agree with what gildedfrost and Ischemia are saying. Please reconsider taking this path with AI

Comment Actions
- Thread
GlamouredDreamer Fri 12 May 2023 01:02AM UTC

Dude I will seriously boycott ao3 and delete all of my stuff off here and convince others to do the same if you allow AI to steal our works not just steal whats the point in writing if an AI can do it better and faster writing has seriously helped me get through (still currently helping me through) a rough time, as soon as I made an account on ao3 I fell in love with the website and the community, the creators are nice as are the people however this makes me think the creators aren’t as nice as I thought, you are going to allow AI to steal from hard workers real nice

Comment Actions
- Thread
jaxinmotley Fri 12 May 2023 02:03AM UTC

Regarding AI/ML: I am deeply uninterested in the algorithmic regurgitation of human creativity, and I won't support anyone that endorses the exploitation of creatives to generate cheap content.

Comment Actions
- Thread
MooseFeels Fri 12 May 2023 02:05AM UTC

i will delete every single one of the one million sixty-eight thousand eight hundred and seventy words i have written on ao3 in the past eleven years rather than have them used as a training set for AI, and i know i'm not alone.

Comment Actions
- Thread
Lady_Bellatrix Fri 12 May 2023 02:35AM UTC

The statement from Legal Chair of allowing the use of AO3 works to train AI is disturbing, to put it mildly. Users never gives consent for that. And stopping the scraper bots is very easy tech-wise. The current state of AI is worrying since it's used to replace human workers and creatives cheaply. Are you sure you allow AI to scrape this site, which the AI will inevitably use it for commercial purpose, while the noncommercial ethos is embedded in this site culture and ToS? Are you sure you allow AI to scrape this site and then the scraped works will be used to write, for example, a movie/series, while WGA is on strike? Like, seriously? Does OTW forget why astolat proposed to build this archive?

Last Edited Fri 12 May 2023 03:01AM UTC

Comment Actions
- Thread
JacarandaBanyan Fri 12 May 2023 04:41AM UTC

I am concerned by the possibility of AI use or training using texts posted to AO3, especially if there’s no clarity on who is benefiting from this and if there’s no way to opt out. I hope there will be further communication and the chance for user input before any policy allowing AI to scrape text from the Archive is made. I personally would not want AI models trained on my work, and am alarmed that the possibility might even be considered.

Comment Actions
- Thread
juuchan Fri 12 May 2023 05:38AM UTC

I recognize the statements of a single individual such as Betsy Rosenblatt may certainly be taken out of context, but OTW would do right by the broader community by clarifying its AI/ML policy. For clarity, I have previously reported AI-generated fics for TOS violation, and have received the response that OTW believes there is no violation of TOS. I urge the organization to strongly reconsider this position.
Despite Rosenblatt's comments, OTW would be well to approach AI learning not from an armchair legal theorist perspective, but from the continued welfare of the creative community which can only thrive when people can create with assurance of their safety as a fandom. While I recognize the concept that allowing AI to scrape fanworks such as AO3 itself may not be considered infringing but rather fair use, it is the incorrect context because it is clear that AI is tasked to learn with a commercial exploitation goal by its corporate owners. There is no non-profit motive that may be subject to fair use, and entirely distinguishable from Sony vs. Betamax referenced here. AI trained on fanworks, by its very programming, will be used to commercially exploit fanworks by leveraging the human labor of fan-creators, and the antithesis to the mission statement from AO3's own words: "We are proactive and innovative in protecting and defending our work from commercial exploitation and legal challenge."
OTW should take steps to reconcile with the very community that it proclaims to support, and in turn, re-establish the trust of the community, by taking measures to ensure that by default the archive is not available for AI data scraping/learning, and if requested at large, allow for an eventual opt in process.
In the same vein, AO3 should not be a repository for AI-created fics under the same principles of not permitting fanworks to be data scraped by AI learning modules.

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. Spicytuna Fri 12 May 2023 01:19PM UTC
  
  Well said.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
2. Stealth_Noodle Fri 12 May 2023 02:19PM UTC
  
  Strongly agreed. Rosenblatt's comments are alarming, and if they don't represent the position of OTW as a whole, I very much want to see a statement clarifying OTW's position. If they do represent OTW's position, that's even more alarming. It would be heartbreaking to see so many years of goodwill and trust destroyed over a stance that most of fandom (correctly) considers ethically indefensible. I certainly couldn't continue to let my own work be hosted on a site that welcomes commercial exploitation of it without my consent. I urge OTW to listen to its community's concerns.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
3. MadameRay Fri 12 May 2023 07:32PM UTC
  
  Hard agree. Also, hearing AI works aren't considered breaches of TOS and haven't been getting dealt with really startled me - that's not reassuring at all.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
theheartlands Fri 12 May 2023 05:50AM UTC

i am horrified at rosenblatt's stance on AI "training/education" (theft).
i am not a teacher, i am a human artist.
AI will scrape and plagarise our works of love and sell them for profit. that goes against the entire founding purpose of this archive.
i am not a profit margin, i am a human artist.
how dare we, the collective group of human beings using AO3, be repaid like this? how dare we be threatened with site-wide theft, after singing this site's praises for years, donating to it, defending it and finding home and community on it?
i am not free labor. i am a human artist.
if AI is to be implemented, many, MANY people will leave the site and take their beautiful work with them, as will i. AI is unacceptable. it has no place in an archive by and for human beings. theft and soulnessness has no place here.

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 04:18AM UTC
  
  Funny how it's always the people with no clue how tech works that complain about said tech.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread
cloudygremlin Fri 12 May 2023 06:13AM UTC

This post is incredibly deceptive in thay it hides how the legal chair participating in the legal hearings on AI is PRO the usage of AI to data mine fanfics like it's does original art works.

Comment Actions
- Thread
tenrousei_kuroi Fri 12 May 2023 09:32AM UTC

Wow, we need an update and clarification on this AI nonsense and we need it right now. I get that this is one person giving an interview, but when you deliberately promote said interview across numerous channels, it creates a feeling of *consensus*. It means you looked at that interview and didn't see anything so glaringly wrong that you would either not promote it or at least add additional context.
I was so excited to donate for the first time this year and I'm already wishing I could go back and undo that. I wanted that money to go towards *protecting* content creators from corporate overstep and greed. People support the Archive because you've built up years' of goodwill and trust. We *trust* you to look out for us no matter how hard capitalism tries to snuff us out.
You know what gets me the most? It's that patronizing comment at the end from Betsy, the one that goes something like "oh don't worry honey, your heartfelt creations will always be better than AIs". Because you know what? No. That's not always true. First because AI is only getting more advanced and second because a lot of people just aren't master wordsmiths, either because they're just starting out or because they're just not that good at creating. And that's FINE. I'm very tired of the idea that AI in art spaces isn't a threat because it will never write something truly profound. Because it's a one in a million shot that you're the author writing the Next Great American Novel. What about the people who write the dime store trash? The "same as every other story in this genre" comfort books? The crackfics and bad, angsty poetry? Those are the FIRST areas that will be overtaken by AI. The first creators driven away.
It is not within the OTW's power or responsibility to solve this emerging threat for us. No one expects that. But we *do* expect that we will not be gleefully thrown beneath the bus.
Guys, the continued silence on this isn't good. Even a simple "update coming" would be helpful. Seriously...Y'all better be dusting off the old crisis communication plan because this is a PR *nightmare*.

Comment Actions
- Thread
weshouldfondue Fri 12 May 2023 10:47AM UTC

The lack of response to users genuine concern about the AI issue is worrisome. If AO3 allows AI use on the website, I will be deleting my account. It has NO PLACE in creative works.

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. Orpheus999 Sat 13 May 2023 04:20AM UTC
  
  There's no "genuine concern." There's just a bunch of people making up things to be mad about, then being mad about them.
  
  Comment Actions
  - Thread
  - Parent Thread

AO3 News