I have long-since given up on participating in National Novel Writing Month (and have no plans to take part this November), but it popped up recently for a reason I didn’t expect: The organization’s stance on AI (which they think is A-OK).
More to the point, they think rejecting AI outright is classist and ableist. You can read their (modified multiple times) statement here: What is NaNoWriMo’s position on Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
As I state in the title above, this seems like a weird stance to take and is probably insulting to the people NaNoWriMo thinks they are championing (and I’ve seen several posts from people in the target group on Mastodon saying just this). No one needs to use AI to write a novel, and I’d argue that no one should, especially for something like NaNoWriMo, where many participants are new writers just learning their way. Using the crutch of AI could easily lead them to writing worse fiction, reinforce bad habits and suck the soul from their work. It could impede them from finding their own voice by bumbling through and learning from their mistakes.
And this is all apart from the ethical arguments surrounding AI being largely or even mostly built on the theft of the work of others (sure, some AI companies are starting to make deals, but how will a writer possibly know if the AI they’re using is “clean” or not?)
I’ve toyed around with AI a few times on this blog, mostly as a kind of joke, because the results are usually awful, bland or blandly awful. I’ve stopped now because the energy costs make me feel bad about using it just to fart around.
Some have pointed out that NaNoWriMo might be beholden to its sponsors, as one of them has AI features–ProWritingAid–but they have been a sponsor since long before they adopted AI tools. Here I was going to point out that another sponsor, Ellipsus, has a very anti-AI stance, but…it looks like they pulled their sponsorship in the last day (statement here: We’re stepping down as a NaNoWriMo sponsor. Here’s why.)
I expect more fallout to continue, and it already seems like an opportunity for replacements for NaNoWriMo has begun–one is already in the works that I know of: https://writingmonth.org/.
Of course, none of this will stop anyone from trying to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. You don’t need a big website–or AI–you just need an idea, and a lot of dedication to see it through (and about 1–2 hours per day of free time, in my experience).
I’ll post more as the situation develops.
Also:
