Story Sent Back due to AI?

[TheNyxianLily]

I recently had a chapter in my story be sent back, and they quoted the following-

• Literotica is a storytelling community centered on the sharing of human adult fantasies. While we do not have a policy against using tools to help with the writing process (i.e. spellcheck, grammar suggestions, etc.), we do ask that all work published on the site at this time be created primarily by a human. Please see this FAQ for more information: https://literotica.com/faq/publishing/publishing-ai

I have never used AI tools for my writing, outside of some brief spellchecking tools, so I'm not sure how to respond to this. I'm worried that if I resubmit the story as-is it will get sent back again.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Welcome to Lit!

I think the bot that screens stories is having some malfunction, this is getting to be a common thing. I'd suggest you send a PM to @Laurel, the site admin, explain your story is human and not AI manufactured and resubmit it with that expressed in the Notes area. That should move it on through for you.

 

[Bamagan]

Most people who have gotten returns with the same message have reported success by simply re-submitting with a note to the editor explaining what, if any, grammar checking was done or what program was used. Some have gotten things kicked back despite that. There are a number of similar threads from the last month or two that provide some advice on how to check your submission for potentially suspect passages, especially dialogue, if you care to do so. There are a number of writing habits for online erotica that are unfortunately similar stylistically to what current generative AI tends to produce, and the site is apparently still casting a wide net while trying to find a reliable and efficient way to screen submissions.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Also just read in another thread that using grammarly is apparently now grounds for rejection? Would like clarification on this.

 

[onehitwanda]

Also just read in another thread that using grammarly is apparently now grounds for rejection? Would like clarification on this.

It seems to be more that using Grammarly for spellchecking etc is fine but letting Grammarly refactor your writing triggers the heuristics.

I'm going to let you all onto a little secret.

All these AI checking tools are American. Write your stories in the correct form of English and I'm willing to bet they'll sail on as blissfully as HMS Victory returning to Blighty after Trafalgar(*✲)

* ignoring the obvious point that the rather dead body of Lord Admiral Nelson was strapped to the mast in a barrel full of brandy to keep it from decomposiing on the way...
✲ this is obviously complete tosh and not backed by any evidence whatsoever, but it sounds great and I love the theory.

 

[lovecraft68]

This is where it pays to have crappy grammar and not really worry about it. No AI would write anything that shoddy.

 

[onehitwanda]

This is where it pays to have crappy grammar and not really worry about it. No AI would write anything that shoddy.

Shurely your not suggesting we cheat the system.

 

[Fatdog25]

Also just read in another thread that using grammarly is apparently now grounds for rejection? Would like clarification on this.

I used the free version of Grammarly on my last two stories with no issue.

I use it for tense checking, punctuation, the basic grammar stuff. I don't accept its recommendations blindly, though.

 

[StillStunned]

I use the grammar checker that comes from speaking English all my life. And reading lots of skilled writers.

(You'd think my MA in English Language and Literature and nearly 25 years' experience as an editor would also help, but not really.)

 

[lovecraft68]

Shurely your not suggesting we cheat the system.

Of course not, and don't call me Shirley.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I'm going to let you all onto a little secret.

All these AI checking tools are American. Write your stories in the correct form of English and I'm willing to bet they'll sail on as blissfully as HMS Victory returning to Blighty after Trafalgar(*✲)

 

[SyleusSnow]

The thing I don't get about this is... why and why so strict?

Amazon adopted an AI policy because of machine-generated nonsense flooding Kindle Unlimited for money. AI-generated mishmash was also appearing under well-known author's names... nothing new for Amazon, but AI allowed a much higher volume and some of the gibberish content was trained on the author's own works. Amazon (barely) responded by removing the worst offenders, limiting all submissions to three books per day and politely asking authors to state whether they used AI.

Lit already rejects badly written/formatted work, and AI-generated gibberish would immediately stand out.

There are legitimate uses of AI in creative writing. SudoWrite and others are helpful for brainstorming and creating initial plot outlines. They can expand human-written paragraphs to add sensory details and metaphors or condense long-winded text to be more concise. Grammar checkers have long been able to rewrite portions of text to improve clarity.

I can sort of understand a policy of rejecting stories that are entirely or mostly AI written, but rejecting works where AI tools have been used to improve a few sentences or paragraphs? C'mon.

Is Lit's goal for using automated AI detection simply to reduce how many submissions have to be manually reviewed each day? Automatically reject if there's even a whiff of AI, to save a human from reviewing it?

AI assisted writing is not going away any more than grammar and spell checkers are. There's already an ocean of atrocious writing on Lit. If AI use makes crappy writing better, what's the actual harm?

*No AI was used in crafting this screed

 

[MillieDynamite]

Didn't we discuss this yesterday, the day before, the entire week before, like close to a whole month now, on several different threads? Or am I full of shit again?

 

[SyleusSnow]

Didn't we discuss this yesterday, the day before, the entire week before, like close to a whole month now, on several different threads? Or am I full of shit again?

Because it's an issue. And far as I know, not a peep about these seemingly false positives from site admins.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

All these AI checking tools are American. Write your stories in the correct form of English and I'm willing to bet they'll sail on as blissfully as HMS Victory returning to Blighty after Trafalgar(*✲)

* ignoring the obvious point that the rather dead body of Lord Admiral Nelson was strapped to the mast in a barrel full of brandy to keep it from decomposiing on the way...
✲ this is obviously complete tosh and not backed by any evidence whatsoever, but it sounds great and I love the theory.

I'm not entirely sure whether you were joking or not, but just to be safe:

The AI checking tools may be developed in the U.S., but they are all trained in the form of the English language that's spoken the most. Which would be the U.K. version. All the kids around the world learning English in school are NOT learning U.S. English...

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Because it's an issue. And far as I know, not a peep about these seemingly false positives from site admins.

it would be nice to see some clarification particularly about the limitations on the use of grammar checking software, because ALOT of grammar checkers are rolling out generative-AI assistance as part of their software package. Microsoft included.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Yes, I was being my typical smart assed self.

Because it's an issue. And far as I know, not a peep about these seemingly false positives from site admins.

 

[u1u1u1]

I'm not entirely sure whether you were joking or not, but just to be safe:

The AI checking tools may be developed in the U.S., but they are all trained in the form of the English language that's spoken the most. Which would be the U.K. version. All the kids around the world learning English in school are NOT learning U.S. English...

I think you're both wrong.
British English was almost certainly the global standard during the time of the Empire.
These days, as I understand it:
- European and Commonwealth schools generally teach British English, but will also cover American English.
- American, East Asian, and Middle Eastern schools will generally teach US English.
I don't know about Francophone or Arabophone Africa.
In any case, contemporary LLM AIs are trained on very large datasets that will include writing in all major forms of English. I know OpenAI's products tend to generate in US English, even when asked to prefer British English or other standards. I just checked Bard and it also prefers US spellings. So does Claude.
That said, I write in British English and Laurel thinks I'm an AI, so I'm not sure that's actually useful advice

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Because it's an issue. And far as I know, not a peep about these seemingly false positives from site admins.

This struck me as odd, too. I mean, we hear from them every day, yet they remain so silent on this issue...

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

In any case, contemporary LLM AIs are trained on very large datasets that will include writing in all major forms of English. I know OpenAI's products tend to generate in US English, even when asked to prefer British English or other standards. I just checked Bard and it also prefers US spellings. So does Claude.

Well I just asked ChatGPT if it uses US or British English, and this is the response:

Blimey, guv'nor! Not US nor British English, just a bit of old code 'aving a chinwag with ya. Cheers!

 

[StillStunned]

Well I just asked ChatGPT if it uses US or British English, and this is the response:

Blimey, guv'nor! Not US nor British English, just a bit of old code 'aving a chinwag with ya. Cheers!

Ah, so Hollywood British then.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

I think you're both wrong.
British English was almost certainly the global standard during the time of the Empire.
These days, as I understand it:
- European and Commonwealth schools generally teach British English, but will also cover American English.
- American, East Asian, and Middle Eastern schools will generally teach US English.
I don't know about Francophone or Arabophone Africa.
In any case, contemporary LLM AIs are trained on very large datasets that will include writing in all major forms of English. I know OpenAI's products tend to generate in US English, even when asked to prefer British English or other standards. I just checked Bard and it also prefers US spellings. So does Claude.
That said, I write in British English and Laurel thinks I'm an AI, so I'm not sure that's actually useful advice

Huh. I had no idea. Learned something new again!

 

[dmallord]

Didn't we discuss this yesterday, the day before, the entire week before, like close to a whole month now, on several different threads? Or am I full of shit again?

Yep. We did. Have did. Done did. And apparently, doing and done did it now, again.

It's okay. AI ain't killed nobody like over in the politics forum - or LW.

It's like weather discussions among oldsters – never tires. "Rained at your place?" "Yep. Yours?" "Yep, yesterday, too."

See? Nobody complains about the weather, so it won't be long before AI gets the same treatment.

[Affirming no AI on this reply.]

 

[MillieDynamite]

Ever the optimist or maybe ophthalmologist, @dmallord. Turkey smoked all night and tasted wondermus.

Yep. We did. Have did. Done did. And apparently, doing and done did it now, again.

It's okay. AI ain't killed nobody like over in the politics forum - or LW.

It's like weather discussions among oldsters – never tires. "Rained at your place?" "Yep. Yours?" "Yep, yesterday, too."

See? Nobody complains about the weather, so it won't be long before AI gets the same treatment.

[Affirming no AI on this reply.]

 

[Wanderer123x]

Have you had any progress with your submission? I'm in the same boat.

I've had stories sent back. I dont think AI content is allowed as of yet.