The use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a huge conversation point at the moment. There's also a great deal of confusion around what's acceptable and what isn't in terms of how an author uses AI.
When it comes to Rhiza Press, we believe in publishing unique and original stories that come straight from our authors' imaginations. AI can stifle this creative process in ways that will damage both an author's work and the publishing industry itself.
AI in fiction submissions to Rhiza Press
You as the author or illustrator are responsible for your work. We have a strict no AI use for creative work and no AI use for anything that would reduce the quality or originality of what we publish. As a result, we ask you submit stories that are human-created.
When submitting to Rhiza Press, we don't consider AI use acceptable when it comes to the creation of your original work. This includes brainstorming or any part of character or plot development.
Any AI use should be for assistance, not for anything that replaces you generating your story.
AI use that might be allowable would be in research, although all sources should be still checked. AI responses have been found to be incorrect on many occasions, so checking with websites and other sources that deal with whatever you're researching is best.
Some examples that might be okay when using AI in a minimal way would be:
- researching common or less common character names.
- marketing ideas based on your story, but this should only be in a closed server operating on your own system and limited to the sharing of your ideas. If you use open AI, your ideas will be subsumed into it.
So how much is too much brainstorming? If it's something you feel you need to acknowledge, then it's too much. For example, if you pull something from a newspaper article you'll probably include a mention of that in the acknowledgements. You'd say, 'Inspired by …' or 'With thanks to …', etc. One of our authors wrote a picture book that had clear inspiration from a prominent book so she got an endorsement from that author and acknowledged her with her permission.
With AI, you can't ask for permission as you don't know what the source material is. You don't know what was mined to give you the information you're using so you can't thank that person or ask their permission.
As a publisher, if we were just getting AI to do everything, we wouldn't have the privilege of working with authors and illustrators to create original art. That would be a devastating loss. We want real authors, real culture, real stories from humans.
It would be such a slippery slope if we allowed AI to generate our stories. Additionally, AI draws from other people's creative work and as a result, may lack originality and have potential copyright issues. We never want to impact the quality of a manuscript by using AI.
We refer to the Australian Publisher's Association for the principle of having original work published.
Read the APA's stance here.
We particularly relate to this statement (Part 3)
- 'Respect human authorship – AI tools, generative or otherwise, may present opportunities to enhance human expression but must not be used to undermine human creativity, which is essential to a resilient, democratic, and modern society.'
Authors submitting work need to declare if they have used any AI in the creation of their text. Please note we are aware that many authors use some AI-based tools in editing and proofing but be careful that these tools don't write the work for you.
Questions:
Can writers use AI for brainstorming?
We'd prefer you didn't. In fact, we'd say no almost always as the brainstorming isn't going to generate original results. We are keen for your original ideas.
We'd also say no if it has anything to do with plot, characters or actual text. If you use AI for those elements, it may limit your story and make it lack originality and creativity.
Can artists use AI for art?
We don't use AI for any art elements and all our covers are drawn by authentic human and mostly local, Australian talent. We will at times use stock images for covers, but only photos that have been taken by photographers. We ask that any artists working with us do the same when creating original images.
Do you allow training of AI?
We have strict clauses in our contracts and in our books that do not allow the training of AI from our publications.
Do you use AI for narration?
We use human narrators for our books as well. We're passionate about original and authentic arts that contribute to our society and culture.
What about AI as assistance for disabilities such as blindness or dyslexia?
Where AI is used as assistive technology for a disability is an exception to this. Our concern with AI use is when it replaces a person's creativity or authentic story, not when technology is used to assist a person.
Do you dislike AI?
Not inherently. Technology as a tool to support growth, development and opportunity in any form can have advantages. It's the use of generative work, which takes away our natural human creative opportunities, that we don't appreciate. There are a number of arguments for and against AI in other areas such as environmental, being built into programs even when we don't ask for it and replacing jobs. These are all things to consider when using AI. However it's not about dislike or like for us. It's about authentic, real, human creativity and stories that inspire the young readers we publish for.