So, Worldcon 2025 is making headlines, but not the kind you’d put on the back of a Hugo-winning novel. The organizing committee decided to use ChatGPT to help vet over 1,300 panelist submissions. They intended to streamline the flood of applications, maybe catch a few red flags, keep things moving.
Except it’s not going well.
The committee asked ChatGPT to pull up publicly available info on applicants, essentially using it like a souped-up search engine. But SFWA members have been running those same prompts on themselves, and the results? Pretty bonkers. We’re talking misattributions, missing publications, and some outright fabrications. Imagine finding out that ChatGPT thinks you wrote a series of cozy mysteries set in Atlantis when, in reality, you pen sci-fi space operas.
Now, some big-name authors are pulling out, including Yoon Ha Lee, and a few Hugo organizers have also stepped away in protest. Worldcon is scrambling to backtrack, issuing apologies and vowing not to use AI tools for this kind of thing in the future. But the damage may already be done.
And it’s not just Worldcon. AI is starting to creep into every corner of the literary world — from reviewing pitches to generating marketing copy to (yep) writing entire books. We’re all feeling the tremors of what that means for creators, publishers, and readers.
So, here’s what I’m curious about:
- Would you attend a panel curated with AI assistance, knowing that some of the picks might be based on questionable info?
- Does it matter to you if AI is used to organize a con or vet participants, as long as the final say is still human?
- And the big one: If you knew a book was written with AI, would you read it?
Sound off in the comments. I’m genuinely interested in what you think — because, like it or not, this whole AI-in-writing thing is just getting started.
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I’m not sure how I’d answer the first two questions as they are outside my experience but when in doubt I’d err on the side of minimal AI interference to honour the talent of the participants.
For the question of reading a book written by AI that’s an easy answer of NO.
There are sooo many talented humans and so many books out there, why compromise and make it even harder for them to be discovered by reading AI instead?!
Human creativity needs to be encouraged and protected 😘
Hi Ing!
I’m playing Devil’s advocate, but there could well come a time when you won’t be able to tell if a book is written by AI or not.
Amazing Stories wrote a scary post about this a few years ago (https://amazingstories.com/2022/08/the-coming-death-of-commercialized-art-2/), where they suggested that readers will one day be able to head to a site, or stand in front of a vending machine and plug in their parameters: “I want a space opera with a plucky crew, a female captain, and aliens…and I want a love story on the side” and the tailored-for-you novel will pop up for you to read a couple of minutes later.
I think all authors will have to hang up their typewriters after that….
But, given how well AI writes, right now, (abysmally) I think we’re safe for a bit.
And that was what I said about AI generated images, once. Only a year later, the images were *amazing*. So….
As a science fiction writer, I find it fascinating the way the world is currently shifting in ways no one thought would ever change. I look forward to seeing where it all ends up.
Cam.