Here’s a question: as a writer, as an American, as an Earthling, should I be excited by AI, or afraid of it?
The answer is: Yes.
I am an enthusiastic user of AI systems. Their capabilities are astonishingly useful to a self-published author who takes his book business seriously. Any business owner in any domain, whether an author or artist or plumber or architect or arborist would be a fool not to use every ethical and moral tool available to them to promote and grow their business. AI is no exception.
Wait. I said “ethical” and “moral,” didn’t I?
And that’s a dilemma: Is using AI ethical? Moral?
Is a knife ethical? Yes, when used by a chef to slice the asparagus she’s serving her customers. No, if she uses it to murder the chef at a competing restaurant.
Is a pen ethical? Yes, if you use it to record a recipe for apple pie. No, if you use it to write political propaganda that purposefully incites violence.
Like any tool, it depends entirely on how you use it.
AI is the most disruptive technology ever invented. I’m a sci-fi writer and a student of history and I believe there has never been a societal game-changer like AI, not since the taming of fire or the discovery of the wheel or the birth of democracy. AI is going to utterly transform everything about the way we live and work. Utterly.
So, is AI going to destroy the livelihoods of millions?
Yes. If I was a technical writer or commercial artist, I would be, right now, looking for a career change. If I was a factory worker or lawyer or taxi driver or mailman or surgeon I would be questioning my career choice. And it won’t be long, a decade or two max, especially combined with advances in robotics, that no job on Earth other than esoteric fine arts won’t be done better by a machine.
Is AI going to be used by power-hungry nefarious actors to trick us, to make us believe falsehoods, to promote horrific values and impose their wills upon the rest of us?
Yes. It’s already happening. And it is proving to be very, very effective. As it stands, we are at the mercy of the bad guys. Just read the news.
So why, Mr. Sci-Fi Writer, would you use AI if it’s so awful?
Two reasons. First, because it’s here to stay, and if the good guys don’t learn how to use it for good, the bad guys will monopolize its awesome potential. Second, properly trained and regulated, it has just as much power to do good as it does to do bad.
It’s as simple as this: If you refuse to use AI for moral or ethical reasons, you are going to be overrun by those who do.
You might not want to admit it, but you know this is true. Don’t shoot the messenger. Trying to run a competitive business these days without using AI is like going into battle with pitchforks and shovels against a platoon of US Marines armed with M27 rifles and grenade launchers.
So, how can I as a writer use AI ethically and morally and not contribute to the problem or make things worse?
I struggle with this question every day, and the answer is about as clear to me as the waters of a swamp bog. For now, I use the following self-imposed rules (which change as I learn more about the technology). You may or may not agree with them, and I’d like to hear your opinion.
My rules for using AI in my writing and publishing work:
- I do the writing. My stories and novels are written by me, not AI. The characters and plots and structures and outlines are made by me, not AI, painstakingly and manually diagrammed on whiteboards and restaurant napkins and the backs of power bills, whatever is handy when inspiration strikes. I don’t use AI for creative purposes because I want all of the juices in my writing to be my own flavors, and I don’t want to become dependent. Plus, AI-generated fiction still sucks…for now.
- I will employ humans for most aspects of book production. I will always use human editors for the final edits (though I am starting to use the built-in AI in my word processor for simple proofing tasks, such as grammar and spell checks). I will always employ human narrators and actors and engineers for audiobook production (although the new crop of AI tools that mimic human voices are getting scarily good). I pledge to always employ human narrators and editors because, well, it’s the right thing to do, and I love collaborating with other creative people on projects (note that in the past two weeks Amazon just made it possible to create an AI-voiced audiobook of any book in their catalog, which will be a huge blow to voice actors).
- I will use AI for marketing and sales materials and analytics. I can’t sell my books without compelling advertising, and a key component of any online ad is an eye-catching image. I literally cannot compete in such a crowded marketplace without leveraging AI tools for image creation, mainly because everyone else is using them too. Similarly, AI does an incredible job of pulling together my sales reports, royalty statements, website activity, advertising invoices, and other marketing data to provide me with simple monthly business reports that are indispensable. I would have to hire a data analyst, which I could never afford, to give much these reporting insights.
- I will advocate for hardcore AI regulation and control. The only thing that will prevent AI from displacing jobs and being misused to create societal discord are laws to prevent its abuse. But let’s face it, our lawmakers are essentially clueless because, well, we are all clueless at this early stage in the game. Nevertheless, we must begin the process of defining rules for AI that will protect the public, protect jobs and protect our values as a people.
I freely admit that I could be wrong in my positions about AI, and I stand ready to change my views as things develop. But at the end of the day, it comes down to this: we are standing on the shore of an foreign ocean we cannot yet comprehend. The waves are coming whether we want them or not. We can’t stop the tide. But we can choose what kind of sailors we want to be. We can lash our little boats together, learn to navigate the unknown waters with courage and conscience, or we can let ourselves be swept away by currents we refused to understand.
I don’t have all the answers. I know only that standing still isn’t an option. We must move forward — thoughtfully, consciously, using these powerful new tools with care and conviction. Not because we as writers want to join the AI juggernaut, but because if we don’t, we abandon the waters to those who will shape the future without regard for anyone but themselves.
Patrick Cumby, April 2025
