What if someone simply changes the background on their AO3 site skin to red, takes a screenshot of a fic, and then posts it as an "exposed AI fic" to harass other writers?
For example, antis posting screenshots of dark fics because they feel entitled to do whatever it takes to get a work taken down or avoided.
I don't think anything good comes from those AI-tracking site skins.
Even if someone used AI, maybe it wasn't generative AI at all β maybe it was just AI assistance, like a grammar checker or translation help. Yet they still get flagged as "AI." And that shouldn't happen.
If someone writes their own fic, uses their own ideas, but isn't a native English speaker and needs help with translation or grammer, they get treated the same as someone who typed a prompt into AI, had it write the entire story, and then posted it as their own work. And those are not the same thing.
Sure, people will argue that they should just get a beta reader. But not everyone feels comfortable having a beta reader.
Instead of witch-hunting and turning our backs on fellow shippers, we should focus on making fandom spaces a positive place again.
If someone feels uncomfortable reading a fic, suspects it was written with AI, or even knows that it was written by β or with the help of β AI, they should just click back out and move on.
Mute writers. Block writers. Don't harass and expose them because you have a problem with what they do in their free time as a hobby.
It's not like they cheated on a job application or are getting paid for their work. This is fandom. It's supposed to be about having fun.
If someone has fun typing a prompt into AI and getting a story out of it β let them. You (not you personally, the general "you") don't have to like it. You don't have to read it. You don't have to engage with it.
Just stop with this red-flagging shitshow.
If someone uses the site skin so they can avoid reading AI fics, fine. But everything else that comes with the use of that site skin does far more damage to fandom and fanfiction spaces than the AI fics themselves.
I'm honestly tired of opening fandom spaces and seeing everything turn into arguments, accusations, callout posts, and harassment campaigns. It's exhausting. Fandom used to be about sharing what you loved. Now it sometimes feels like people are more interested in policing each other than creating things.
(Sending this anon for obvious reasons.)
assuming this is about the document that can flag if a fic was copied and pasted from claude
β> this post <β also sums it up really well.
I think itβs great if thereβs a tool that can tell for absolute accuracy if a fic is ai (not just 99.99% accurate but 100% accurate, and so far Iβm not completely sure if a glitch or an error wonβt make a human-made fic turn red somehow, or if it wonβt make the tag show up in a human-made fic somehow, Iβm not tech savvy and I donβt really trust any newly introduced machine) without opening a door for witch hunt and harassment. and unfortunately as helpful as this new ao3 skin may be, itβs also led to dozens (or hundreds, or more) of people being doxxed and harassed.
no, I am not a fan of ai fics, but I will never condone harassment. and like you said, at the end of the day fanfic is a hobby, and how one chooses to spend their free time is none of my business. do I agree with an ai writer who chooses to let ai write fics for them? no. but that is not my business and it certainly doesnβt mean I think they deserve to be harassed.
not to mention how easy it is for someone to fake a screenshot of a human-made fic, that has no claude tag in it, to make it look like it has claude tag in it and then spread the screenshot around. and the author canβt even prove their innocence because people will just say βyou removed the tag after you got caughtβ.
one more thing, I actually think people are more scared of having accidentally read and supported an ai-generated fic, and therefore they are no longer βmorally pureβ, than they care about the ethical aspects of ai and how it can be harmful, and I say this as someone who does not like ai-generated fics and will avoid them if theyβre properly tagged. if I read a fic that is not tagged as ai and if I suspect it was done by ai, Iβll just quietly exit the fic. but I donβt think Iβll be using that skin β because 1. I donβt know if a glitch or an error could result in a false positive somehow 2. if I choose to use the skin to see if my suspicion is right and if the fic turns red, then I will never stop using it (even though Iβd never harass anyone). and reading fanfics is a form of self-care to me, and like, I want to read them because I am actually enjoying them and having fun. I donβt want to constantly be paranoid about accidentally exposing myself to ai-generated fics. thatβs not what self-care and having fun are supposed to be.
so if you (general you) want to use the skin, then good for you (as long as you donβt harass anybody). but me, personally, I choose to enjoy art the exact same way Iβve been enjoying it for years, back when gen ai wasnβt a thing β by really letting myself have fun without ai paranoia or witch hunt. if Iβve accidentally read and supported an ai-generated fic, without knowing that itβs ai, then I will never have to know that. and the joy I feel when I read the fic stays with me forever.
(last time I talked about this, I said it was gonna be the last time. so I intend for this to really be the last time I talk about it, unless something else happens. any future asks about this topic may not be answered.)
