The best and simplest solution to the issue of AI being used in fanworks would, in my opinion, be to require all works that unequivocally utilize AI output (defined as any program that auto-generates portions of a fanwork, be it fanfic or fan art or any other media) to be tagged and/or described as such. No exceptions whatsoever. If you artificially generate any part of a work using any program that spits out the product for you that you choose to post online, it has to be labeled as having used AI in its production, even if other parts were organically created by you.
Obv (and unfortunately) this solution would be an impossible one. You can't force people to tag their work and be 100% honest about these things. There'd be no way to implement and enforce such a rule, even if it would basically solve the problem overnight.
Thus, I propose an entirely different approach in this whole mess:
Read and view what you like, and avoid what you don't. And whenever you enjoy a piece, let the author/creator know! Leave kudos! Leave comments! Reblog and retweet and share stuff! SHARE THE LOVE!! <3
If/when you encounter something you don't vibe with and/or suspect AI use, nope out without a single word. Hit the back button, close the tab, and stop engaging immediately. Don't accuse anything, don't send hate messages, don't start so-called "witch hunts" or callout posts or anything nasty - just simply leave. If it sucks, hit da bricks! Eventually, if enough people follow suit, AI use will dwindle and fizzle into nothing. What would be the point of using it if all the engagement and praise and incentives disappeared?
And hell, maybe those who do use AI would then abandon it altogether and discover the true unhinged joy of creation! Real creation! Of building something from nothing using only your enrichment-deprived brain, uninhibited imagination, and your own bare, greasy hands!
Creators don't say we "stumbled out of the document covered in blood" or that we "poured our blood, sweat, and tears" into a creative work for nothing, btw. The organic process of creating something in and of itself is a unique and exhilarating experience that cannot be replicated in any meaningful way by any other means, least of all with AI.
Leave AI for cancer detection and other beneficial scientific advancements and join us organic creators in the trenches, friends. You will never regret the hard-earned validation of true human connection through honest art.
Anyway, that's my two cents or whatever, lmao
