We don’t support generative AI

KanMoWriCo does not promote the use of generative AI in our challenges. Our stated values are openness, inclusivity, transparency, creativity, and community. Generative AI stands in opposition to these values. While we can’t prohibit use of these tools, we strongly oppose their use in the writing space and encourage our writers to actually, well, write.

We believe that writing takes time and support. There is no shortcut to writing. It takes afternoons working with friends, 15 minute intervals on your lunch breaks, daydreams in the car– in short, it takes time. When you’re writing without money for editors, or marketing skills for your novel, you don’t need a shortcut. You need friends who help cover areas you can’t– in short, you need community. 

We are also ethically concerned about generative AI. We question its value weighed against its toll on our environment. Furthermore, generative AI programs are not open or transparent about how they train their models. When using generative AI, you are benefiting from original writing created by other authors, much of which is scraped from the web without their consent.

Finally, as writers, we are concerned about the impact of generative AI on the professional field. We don’t want to see human writing devalued in favor of predictive text, or jobs lost to computers.

We recognize that non-generative AI like spell check and voice-to-text transcription is an important tool, especially for disabled writers. If you rely on a program to transcribe text, check your spelling, or provide other writing tools, well, that’s our bread and butter. Whatever gets you writing is fine by us.

KanMoWriCo is here to provide time and community for writing. We host write-ins to make time for your writing and workshops to get others’ eyes on your work. We hope this means you won’t need to use a predictive text program like ChatGPT to write for you. 

At the end of the day, our goal is to support all writers. If using generative AI is part of your writing practice, we won’t insist that you stop. We simply won’t promote its use at any of our official events or programs, nor allow it in our workshops.