Sub-forum for AI rejections

[FrancesScott]

I’ve never explored them, but the Authors’ Hangout seems to have sub-forums for things like audio stories.

Would it make sense to create a sub-forum for stories rejected due to possible use of AI? Maybe it should be more general and also become a home for advice on how to deal with any type of story rejection: dialogue, underage, etc.

People could post there, and I was thinking that the forum moderator could move any such thread posted in the main forum to this sub-forum.

I assume that there will be some drawbacks, please air them. Just floating an idea.

 

[FrancesScott]

I guess one drawback is that the volume of threads in this forum would decrease by 90%.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I like the idea. It would help future users who end up facing the same problem, since they would be able to find previous such cases all in the same place and learn from them.

 

[FrancesScott]

I like the idea. It would help future users who end up facing the same problem, since they would be able to find previous such cases all in the same place and learn from them.

Yes. It wasn’t meant to be sweeping all this stuff off out of sight (well not entirely), but also as you say, it would save people having to look up old threads buried between other things.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Nobody searches old threads to see if their question has been answered, especially not new forum users. We all think our variation of <insert problem> is unique and special, and why can't the rules be changed to allow me, mommy's special boy/girl/enby, to do the thing I wanted to do in the first place?

 

[Omenainen]

People here have a tendency to drag every subtopic back to here, so even if there was one, I doubt the topics would stay there, but if establishing new subforums is any easier than categories on story side it could be worth trying.

 

[Bamagan]

It might be worthwhile, assuming the site also changes their rejection notice to recommend visiting the subforum specifically instead of the AH. I think that many of the people who pop in to enquire (or to whine) about their rejection probably only do so because of the call-out.

 

[NotWise]

I'd rather see such questions directed to the editor's forum.

There are three subforums to the AH. Two of those (Audio and Interactive) were set up to promote a feature of the site, and questions on those topics usually stay in the subforum. The third is for writer's challenges and exercises, but most challenges and exercises are posted directly to AH rather than to the subforum. I think that's what would happen with a subforum for AI rejections. The questions would still go straight to AH.

And sticky threads are where once-popular discussions go to die.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I wouldn't mind giving it a try. Currently AH is about 10% AI rejection threads, which seems a bit much.

 

[AwkwardMD]

I’ve never explored them, but the Authors’ Hangout seems to have sub-forums for things like audio stories.

Would it make sense to create a sub-forum for stories rejected due to possible use of AI? Maybe it should be more general and also become a home for advice on how to deal with any type of story rejection: dialogue, underage, etc.

People could post there, and I was thinking that the forum moderator could move any such thread posted in the main forum to this sub-forum.

I assume that there will be some drawbacks, please air them. Just floating an idea.

I had a high school teacher who relayed a story that stuck with me.

When he was in college, that school had done some expanding. They'd added some new buildings, and they were asking students to submit designs on the walkways. His suggestion was that they not design anything. Sit and wait, and let the students walk where they want, and over time the students will wear a rut wherever most of them are going. Pave over the rut. Simple.

The school didn't do that. They picked an artistic submission that was aesthetically interesting. However, it lacked a breadth of connecting pathways, and over time the students largely stopped using it, preferring to walk in straight lines, along paths of least resistance, from key intersections and access points.

All this is to say that people are gonna do what people are gonna do, and sometimes you just gotta let 'em.

 

[FrancesScott]

I think that's what would happen with a subforum for AI rejections. The questions would still go straight to AH.

The moderator moves them. Simple. I agree about the rejection note pointing them to the right place. But dropping AI rejections into a general writing forum seems to mostly generate snarky in jokes from long-time members, punctuated by the occasional kindly offer to help (not that there often seems much to be done), which is often replicating advice given before.

I have greater faith in my fellow humans - if threads about AI rejection were easy to find in one place, they are much more likely to be viewed than if users have to rely on the rather rudimentary search functions.

 

[Omenainen]

I’m hoping the AI thing will blow over in some way and the threads will stop. But then I’ve been waiting for the sushi restaurants to disappear for the last… twenty years? so it might be my hopes are not realistic.

 

[Bramblethorn]

The school didn't do that. They picked an artistic submission that was aesthetically interesting. However, it lacked a breadth of connecting pathways, and over time the students largely stopped using it, preferring to walk in straight lines, along paths of least resistance, from key intersections and access points.

I love the term "desire paths" for these.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I’m hoping the AI thing will blow over in some way and the threads will stop. But then I’ve been waiting for the sushi restaurants to disappear for the last… twenty years? so it might be my hopes are not realistic.

Just like the rejection for underage characters having sex blew over?

 

[StillStunned]

Given that nobody here has any power to even consider this possibility, I'll tag in @Laurel and @Manu and repeat the question:

Would it be a good idea to create a separate sub-forum to discuss AI-related matters? Here, or in the Editor's Forum. And update the rejection notice to refer to that sub-forum rather than the AH.

 

[FrancesScott]

Given that nobody here has any power to even consider this possibility, I'll tag in @Laurel and @Manu and repeat the question:

Would it be a good idea to create a separate sub-forum to discuss AI-related matters? Here, or in the Editor's Forum. And update the rejection notice to refer to that sub-forum rather than the AH.

Thanks for the positive contribution!

 

[filthytrancendence]

Conceptually, it makes sense to put it in the Editor's forum, but they end up here anyway because we're about 50x more active and 80% of the posting traffic over there is from us anyway. At least from my experience.

Another path of least resistance thing. Putting it here is probably the right call.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'd rather see such questions directed to the editor's forum.

We've already got the Editors' Forum mod bouncing them here, probably because the AH "might" be better with the advice given - even though the issue is really to do with editing.

I'd like to see the AI threads corralled in one place, although that puts the onus on the AHMod to move them. Mod wars? Also, could be corralled to die. As you say, Sticky Notes can be a recipe to oblivion - I didn't notice, for example, that the two @StillStunned threads had gone to the top of the page because the first thing I doing coming into the AH is scroll down.

There are three subforums to the AH. Two of those (Audio and Interactive) were set up to promote a feature of the site, and questions on those topics usually stay in the subforum. The third is for writer's challenges and exercises, but most challenges and exercises are posted directly to AH rather than to the subforum. I think that's what would happen with a subforum for AI rejections. The questions would still go straight to AH.

I think so too, that's always been the way of the weekly/monthly set your watch by them repeat threads. They just... repeat. There's a comment that young uns won't understand - set your watch? What the fuck does that mean? Anyway... (I wind a grandfather clock once a week, it's over 250 years old, and now keeps time nearly to the second, once I had its bearings replaced).

What might be kinder, just sayin', is that long timers resist the notion to take the piss, and remember that everyone was a newbie once, and for some reason, people don't seem to look around for other threads on the same topic. Ironically, these days, that's probably because we don't have an AI collating the common answers into one place at the top of the page, like Google now does.

The only up side is that none of these alleged AI writers are writing underage stuff, because that is one common topic that has dropped right off. Five years ago, that was always the main repeat repeat, and ol' KeithD always used to fucking go on about it, which was laughable, if you went to read his twink and little gymnast with bubble butt stories. Speak ill of the dead, EB, you evil prick, how dare you? Same way I dare saying, your style sucks, change your style.

I tend to think the desire paths principle will override any sensible suggestion - those who do think they can be useful will continue to try being useful, those who turn the threads into joke fests will continue to do that, and the rest of us will think, fuck me, it must be Saturday, it's time for another repeat thread.

No easy solution, but the problem/issue isn't going to go away, even if we wish it would. Which doesn't help the poor OP at all, really.

 

[Britva415]

Would it make sense to create a sub-forum for stories rejected due to possible use of AI?

Are you talking about a thread? There are many of these already.

Are you talking about a subforum as a category of threads? Only the site operators can do that - and they probably won't, since all it would do would be to question their story rejections.

Are you talking about some other forum on some other site?

 

[FrancesScott]

Are you talking about a thread? There are many of these already.

Are you talking about a subforum as a category of threads? Only the site operators can do that - and they probably won't, since all it would do would be to question their story rejections.

Are you talking about some other forum on some other site?

I gave examples of sub forums of AH. They appear at the top of the first thread page.

 

[filthytrancendence]

I'd like to see the AI threads corralled in one place

I was pleased to see the thread that shall not be named got bumped today. It really does seem like there are less new threads about it when that one's floating somewhere on the front page. It's well-named, which is half the battle.

 

[NotWise]

If I thought I could help people with their AI rejections, then maybe I wouldn't mind seeing so many here.

It feels like AH is the dumping ground for a problem the site doesn't know how to fix, and--aside from saying "don't use AI tools"--we don't know how to fix it either.

 

[AwkwardMD]

If I thought I could help people with their AI rejections, then maybe I wouldn't mind seeing so many here.

It feels like AH is the dumping ground for a problem the site doesn't know how to fix, and--aside from saying "don't use AI tools"--we don't know how to fix it either.

On the one hand, part of the problem is societal. These tools are being pushed by big tech on everyone. My Gmail account is constantly trying to get me to use AI to compose "better emails." Lit has no recourse for fixing that except to become a bigger tech company than Amazon, Microsoft, and X combined.

On the other hand, when it comes to individuals, send them my way. Lit is publishing, what, 200 stories a day now? Most authors aren't experiencing rejections. It's not a widespread problem. Of those that do get a rejection, some of them are unrepentant users of AI who don't understand why its a problem.

I can't help everyone, but I have definitively helped *some* people.

 

[AwkwardMD]

I was pleased to see the thread that shall not be named got bumped today. It really does seem like there are less new threads about it when that one's floating somewhere on the front page. It's well-named, which is half the battle.

I could do without FrancesScott making vague insinuations about my character, but I do have a solution for it if gets that far.

 

[NotWise]

On the other hand, when it comes to individuals, send them my way. Lit is publishing, what, 200 stories a day now? Most authors aren't experiencing rejections. It's not a widespread problem. Of those that do get a rejection, some of them are unrepentant users of AI who don't understand why its a problem.

I can't help everyone, but I have definitively helped *some* people.

Send them to your thread on the Editor's Forum?