My AI Policy

Artificial intelligence is an integral part of the publishing process from writing to launching a book. Here, I outline my use of artificial intelligence in my work and share my policy about editing AI-generated text.

Definitions

Artificial intelligence (AI): a program, computer, or software that carries task once exclusively associated with humans. I also call this nongenerative AI. Examples include Grammarly and ProWritingAid.

Analytical AI: a program, computer, or software that analyzes data and produces a report. Even though a report or analysis is generated, analytical AI is not generative AI. Examples include Authors.ai and Shimmr.ai.

Generative AI: a program, computer, or software that generates new material, such as text or images, when prompted by an end user. Examples include ChatGPT and Midjourney.

AI and My Work

I use nongenerative AI to assist me when editing, thus improving the quality of work I do for clients. Examples of nongenerative AI I use include Grammarly and macros within Microsoft Word but may at times include other nongenerative AI tools.

I also use AI in marketing my business. Examples include scheduling tools for sending newsletters and posting to social media.

Currently, I do not use generative AI in my business, whether to edit or to market. All communication you receive from me will be from a real human being and not from a chatbot or other program. Further, all edits you receive from me will be done by myself, a human being. I take all reasonable steps to protect my clients’ work while it is with me, which includes working to keep their work from being included in datasets used to train generative AI models.

AI and My Clients

It is not my place to dictate a client’s workflow, and I will not presume to tell anyone they can or can’t use specific types of AI when writing or editing. However, I do reserve the right to refuse to edit any work, including text that has been generated by AI. For this reason, I will ask clients to disclose if any text was generated using AI and if it was included verbatim so that I can make an informed decision regarding the edit.

I firmly believe in promoting human creativity and that AI-generated material lacks a human touch. However, I do know that AI tools can assist human creativity. For this reason, I will approach each project individually when deciding whether to edit it. Agreeing to edit AI-generated text now does not mean I will agree to do so in the future; likewise, refusing to edit AI-generated text now does not mean that I will always do so.