Jean Reads

"this fic has long paragraphs with overly described details and scenes, so it must be ai-generated" real humans can write like this.

"this fic has inconsistencies, so it must be ai-generated" real humans make errors and mistakes. that's why we have this thing called plot holes. sometimes writers are tired and they don't remember what they wrote in the last sentences or paragraphs, let alone chapters.

"this fic sounds robotic and unnatural, so it must be ai-generated" not every writer writes in their native language. sometimes they can sound 'robotic and unnatural' if they wrote in their second or third or fourth language (and kudos to them).

"this fic has a prompt left in it that the author forgot to delete, so it must be ai-generated" the 'prompt' the author accidentally left in their fic could actually be a part of an outline that was meant only for them, so they could keep track of what they would write.

"this author posts too often, no human writes this fast, so they must use ai" 1.) you don't know how fast someone can or can't write, how much time a person has in a day or how motivated/skilled they are. 2.) the frequent updates you see could be something that has already been finished and sitting in the author's drafts for god knows how long. just because it's recently posted doesn't always mean it's recently written.

"is it rude if I politely ask a writer if they use ai or chatgpt on their works because I'm almost certain they do?"

yes, it is rude. no matter how polite you are being when you ask them this.

you say you are almost certain. so you are not absolutely certain.

unless you are absolutely, undoubtedly certain — with actual proof — that their writing is ai generated, never ever ask an artist if their work is ai generated.

I know several writers who would stop writing and delete all of their works if they were ever accused of using ai. so it doesn't matter if you are polite when you ask them this, you are suggesting that their works are ai generated, that they didn't create the works they could have spent hours, days, weeks, months or years working on.

ai and chatgpt are trained on real humans' works, they are trained to mimic the way real humans write. so if you say a genuine writer's work "looks ai", I'm gonna have to ask you what you think ai was trained on.

a writer whose English isn't their first language may also write in a way that "looks ai" to some, if they write in English and have to rely on translator.

using em dash isn't a sign of ai. I do it all the time. my fellow writers all love em dash.

having long paragraphs with "overly described scenes" isn't a sign of ai. I do it all the time, and so do my fellow writers.

all the "ai signs" are actually just what most writers actually do. they get mistaken for "ai signs" because sometimes the way writers write or describe a scene in a fanfic or an original work is different than the way people talk or text. because they're writing a fic and describing a scene, not chatting with a friend. the way I talk is different than the way I write my fics.

if you suspect a work was ai generated, but are not 100% sure, you can always just stop reading said work without saying anything.

if someone does use ai to write, they will either a.) deny and continue using ai to write or b.) admit because they see nothing wrong with it and continue using ai to write.

if a genuine writer was wrongly accused of using ai, they may stop writing altogether.

asking a writer if they use ai or chatgpt to write will always do more harm than good. witch hunting will always do more harm than good.

it’s not “hey do you like x or y” question. it’s a subtle implication that your work looks like it was written by a robot within a minute. if you personally don’t find that offensive, that’s cool. but I know a lot of writers do. and they have the rights to be discouraged by it.

Asking a writer or artist if they “use AI” is an accusation, no matter how you dress it up. It’s not neutral. It implies you think their effort, style, or voice is artificial. It implies that their human work doesn’t look human enough for you.

You don’t protect the community by policing people who are actually creating from scratch. You protect it by supporting human creators, reporting confirmed AI misuse when there’s evidence, and learning the difference between this sounds different than what I’d write and this is machine-generated.

Writers—especially fanfic authors—already pour their time, emotion, and identity into what they share for free. They don’t owe anyone proof of authenticity on top of that. And if your question makes someone want to quit writing, it’s not protecting the community. It’s shrinking it.

put dates on everything

don’t believe digital stuff is preserved forever - if it’s really important (documents, photos, etc) print it out

name your files accurately I know it sucks but please

don’t destroy the original just bc you scanned it

rubber cement is the devil’s adhesive use photo corners and quit gluing shit

you will NOT remember write it down

if you staple things to the inside of a folder I will find you

Decided to make some beach towels. You can get them here:

The fact that you can put each character and plot point next to each other and they are the exact same. Says something. I didn’t think they were going to have much of a case. But when it’s this similar. Down to a rebellious sister whose cooking is mocked. I have no sympathy for CC and I will no longer be supporting her books/shows/endeavors.

The first Dark-Hunter book was published in 2002. Whereas City of Bones, the first in the Mortal Instruments, was first published in 2007. And before people continue to defend Clare, remember that she has a history of plagarism in her fanworks.

Also, there’s this from the initial report of the lawsuit:

 On Friday, Kenyon sued Cassandra Clare aka Judith Rumelt aka Judith Lewis, claiming her “Shadowhunter” series initially used Kenyon’s trademark “darkhunter.”     After Kenyon demanded that Clare remove the word “darkhunter” from her work, Clare used the term “shadowhunter” for her protagonists instead, according to the lawsuit. The word “hunter” was also removed from the book title.     Clare’s book, “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” was published in 2007. Since then, Clare has expanded her use of the term “shadowhunter” despite assurances that she would not, according to Kenyon.

You can find the initial report of the lawsuit here.

I’ve read the first three books (but they’ve been on my reread list for a while) in the series and I can confirm from my recollections that having read through that list? The similarities are pretty fucking damning.

Also, for those who want further reading on the subject of this lawsuit, you can read more here. That contains these two points:

12. In 2006, PLAINTIFF was alerted by some of her distressed fans of the potential publication by CLARE of a work that incorporated PLAINTIFF’s Dark-Hunter Marks. PLAINTIFF demanded that the term “darkhunter” and the Dark-Hunter Marks be removed from CLARE’s work. CLARE removed the term “darkhunter” and the Dark-Hunter Marks from her work, substituting instead the term “shadowhunters” for her protagonist, but removing any reference to “hunter” (whether “shadow” or “dark”) from the title; the book was published in 2007 as “The Mortal Instruments, City of Bones.” Despite PLAINTIFF’s continuing protests and continuous assurances from CLARE and CLARE’s publisher that she/they would not expand the use of the “shadowhunters” term or adopt it as a trademark, CLARE has persisted over time in expanding her use of the term “shadowhunters” from a mere description of her protagonists, first to a tag line on the cover of her works and eventually to a complete rebranding of her works so as to be confusingly similar to the Dark Hunter Series. CLARE’s works are now listed on CLARE’s website, “shadowhunters.com” under the category of “Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunters” and include the series of “Mortal Instruments” novels along with “The Infernal Devices,” “The Dark Artifices,” “Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy,” “The Bane Chronicles,” “The Last Hours,” and “The Shadowhunter’s Codex”, each a “Shadowhunter Book” (and collectively, the “Shadowhunter Series”).

13. The Dark-Hunter Series and the Shadowhunter Series are so similar that CLARE’S own publisher mistakenly printed 100,000 copies of a Shadowhunter Book referencing the DarkHunter Mark on the cover. Upon written demand by PLAINTIFF, CLARE’s publisher destroyed tens of thousands of the Shadowhunter Book that contained PLAINTIFF’s Dark-Hunter Mark on its cover. Despite the destruction of tens of thousands of copies of this Shadowhunter Book, thousands of Shadowhunter Books including the Dark Hunter Marks on the cover have now been sold and substantial commercial confusion has resulted. 

Bolding is mine for emphasis.