Say Yes to Human-Written Words Always

Welcome to the middle of July (almost). I live smack dab in the middle of the US and it’s been overly hot. The last few days, there’s been a reprieve, so I find myself in my favorite place as I write this—my deck. I haven’t written by the pool—my other favorite spot—this season. The remodel changed the dynamic and my table is now on the opposite side. It feels “off” so I’ll have to ease into it. Plus, I’m also trying to spend less time on my computer and more time relaxing to give my body time to heal from my autoimmune disease.

Recently, news of AI-generated “books” on Amazon hit the news. You may see them in the best-seller charts on Amazon, or they may pop up on your Kindle as suggestions for your reading. The problem? These aren’t books written by human authors like me. These books are “written”—and I use the term books and written loosely—by AI bots who developed their writing chops by absorbing the content in real authors’ books—without their permission and without compensation—and then regurgitating the mish-mashed results and selling them to people expecting original stories. Some may have been generated by real people hoping to game the system and get a jump on the market by creating “books” fast. A quality read may not be their end-game, so reader beware.

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy reading books written by human authors and have developed a long list of authors I absolutely love. I strive to support them by buying their books, reading them, and then reviewing them. I also love finding new authors and supporting them. Why? One, because I know I will enjoy reading them. Two, writing a book is hard work, requiring hundreds of hours of creative thinking, writing, editing, etc., and authors deserve to be paid for their time. Readers can purchase an ebook for less than a cup of coffee, and few authors actually make a living wage writing them. Yes, it’s true. Supporting authors allows them to continue to create books you love, books they write themselves.

Everything you read from me, I wrote. Myself. No AI involved. Why? Because I’m a writer and writer’s write. That’s my rant today as I struggle (and love) creating stories for humans by a human.