Advice appreciated on how to deal with editor's allegation of AI use

[Deleted member 6736302]

The bolded sentence says you didn't get rejected when you didn't use Grammarly, so you seem to be contradicting yourself.

@STrent has just said the same thing, if I read their post correctly, which suggests, don't use Grammarly.

Yes, exactly what I am saying. I don’t know why, I have no evidence to show it is actually the thing stopping it, but I have two trends.

Those rejected for AI, repeatedly, Grammarly was used. Those published, haven’t at any stage.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Yes, exactly what I am saying. I don’t know why, I have no evidence to show it is actually the thing stopping it, but I have two trends.

Those rejected for AI, repeatedly, Grammarly was used. Those published, haven’t at any stage.

A sample of two isn't huge, but in your context, it's significant!

 

[Lumiere_Amie]

Regarding Grammarly, I have used the free version for my stories since August 2022. I have published a total of 33 stories using it, the latest one was published on February 12, 2024. I have never had a rejection for AI. All that said, this thread and others on the topic prompted me to go check my Grammarly settings. Apparently, in one of their updates, they changed the setting options and added AI with it turned on by default. I don't know when this happened but AI settings were not part of my original setup. I turned them all off (see attachment). Since I don't know when this happened, I can't say whether any of my stories have been written with the AI features turned on. If the story I'm working on now gets rejected then I'll suspect Grammarly's AI settings.
I use a Mac and write my stories in Pages. I have submitted both by copy/paste into the submission box, and by creating an RTF file. Both methods have worked for me.

 

[Lumiere_Amie]

By the way, I just saw this article about the next update to MacOS. If anyone else is using the Mac/Pages combo like I do, watch out for the next major update. Rumor has it that AI will be native on the Mac with core apps, such as Pages, getting AI features.

MacOS 15 rumors

 

[MillieDynamite]

Hello, dead horse, this is my flog, and I'm still using it on you! I'm just saying that we're continuing to postulate theories without the faintest idea as to how determinations are made for the cause of the rejections.

 

[Deleted member 6736302]

Yeah, fair point.

 

[MillieDynamite]

But I still think lines that have commonality to thousands of other stories will get at least a light yellow highlight in any checker. But that, IMHO shouldn't trigger any action.

Yeah, fair point.

 

[Britva415]

the house rules on dialogue structure

What are they? Not arguing, just unaware. I've never seen this discussed.

 

[Deleted member 6736302]

What are they? Not arguing, just unaware. I've never seen this discussed.

They quoted them back to me in the sent back ones. They’re in the rules somewhere. I’ll have a look and find them for you later.

 

[djrip]

What are they? Not arguing, just unaware. I've never seen this discussed.

Punctuation inside quotes.

 

[Britva415]

Punctuation inside quotes.

Example? I don't know what you're saying here.

 

[MillieDynamite]

"Hello", he said, "how are you today". As Opposed to "Hello," he said, "how are you today."

Example? I don't know what you're saying here.

 

[Britva415]

Got it, thanks.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Mary @theWollstonecraftWoman can feel your pain. She's on her 5th day of waiting.

And so we finish today still in pending.

The torture continues.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I'm on day six, and there's no movement yet. I've asked my editor to go through it and check it for AI-like writing, just in case.

I'm on day 9 of initial submission and day 8 according to the system since the time got reset xD I'm not expecting anything other than rejection #6

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I spoke too soon. It goes live tomorrow. Well, tonight at midnight somewhere.

As though a massive weight was lifted from my shoulders, Laurel has saved me from despair.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Your turn!

Ayyy, nice!

 

[toughfire]

One of my stories was rejected twice, so I'm trying to stop using Grammarly (although I'm not sure if that's even relevant). I am totally capable of writing a full story without any software, but I think using tools like Grammarly help me get rid of annoying mistakes that will need to be fixed later, especially because English is my second language.

As a perfectionist I refuse to submit a story filled with mistakes just to pass the AI filter. I'm trying to improve my writing, not make it worse. This is very unfair and disappointing... writing and editing a story for weeks to be rejected and accused of something I didn't do. Writing porn should be fun, not frustrating.

 

[Deleted member 6736302]

And so we finish today still in pending.

The torture continues.

I do think the length of time you’ve gone through is mad, frankly.

 

[Deleted member 6736302]

I first submitted this story on the 23rd of January xD First rejection came on the 31st

Mental. Absolutely mental.

My hit rate is now 30:11 in favour of rejection for AI by the way!

 

[Deleted member 6736302]

Part of me wonders if it's my account now. Like, I've been flagged so many times across so few parts that they just don't trust me at all which would suck, if it were true

I thought that too for a while but I am convinced it’s grammarly for me now.

Two more parts going up by end of the week will make it 13 chapters in two weeks and everything else written in the grammarly days just keeps getting rejected.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I'm not holding my breath xD I'm too many AI rejections down to think it's going to pass this time - especially after the time got reset. The last time that happened I got a rejection

Please don't, that can cause a serious blueish tent to your skin. We'd have to change your handle Portly_Blueboy_Penguin then.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Take two fantasies and check with me in the morning.

And so, as another day draws to a close, I stare out of the window into the darkness and wonder just one thing. "When will my story be free of its hell? When will the suffering end?"

 

[NuclearGorilla]

I’ve been going through the AI rejection loop as well. Is it basically guaranteed that the stories have no chance of being published unless they are significantly revised? Has anyone gotten one pushed through just by confirming that they didn’t use Grammarly or a similar tool?

I really don’t know how to avoid it. I have had things rejected in first person and third person, grammatically rigid and conversational/flowery. It all ends up in the bin. I’m not sure how to rework things to avoid the flag because I can’t find a pattern. I’m losing steam.

 

[toughfire]

I’ve been going through the AI rejection loop as well. Is it basically guaranteed that the stories have no chance of being published unless they are significantly revised? Has anyone gotten one pushed through just by confirming that they didn’t use Grammarly or a similar tool?

I really don’t know how to avoid it. I have had things rejected in first person and third person, grammatically rigid and conversational/flowery. It all ends up in the bin. I’m not sure how to rework things to avoid the flag because I can’t find a pattern. I’m losing steam.

Mine was published after I submitted the same story again, with a note explaining I wrote it myself and used Grammarly lightly and that I made a few changes. I remember I changed the description and a few details in the story, but it wasn't a significant change. The problem is that same story was rejected again when I decided to revise it.

I stopped using Grammarly on my recent stories and I thought it was working (several stories were published right away), but now my most recent work is stuck on pending. This seems random and it's mostly affecting unknown writers. I imagine if the filter flagged a familiar author, the moderation would simply dismiss the accusation.