Sci-fi authors Scalzi and Stross decry AI's dystopian impact on their craft
LLMs are theft by 'absolute scum' who make life harder for writers by putting them in copyright peril
Science fiction authors Charles Stross and John Scalzi have spoken out against the negative impact of AI on their creative process. Stross vehemently opposes using large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT or Claude to assist with writing, stating that it is akin to theft and harms the integrity of their work. He criticized AI companies for stealing copyrighted material to train their models, then fine-tuning them to maximize revenue through addictive features.
Scalzi warned that using AI could lead to legal disputes over copyright infringement, as copyrighted works are used to train LLMs. He expressed concern that this could disadvantage new writers who lack a pre-existing body of work. Both authors emphasized that AI should not be incorporated into any aspect of the publishing process, as it calls the authenticity of the work into question.
Stross acknowledged that there could be some limited uses for locally-run LLMs to assist with editing and planning, but stressed that these should be tools, not substitutes for the author's own work.
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