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South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
‘I'll keep writing': Chinese novelist Mai Jia will not be outdone by AI
At this year's Beijing International Book Fair, a forum on writers' perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) saw Chinese author Mai Jia make a gentle but firm stand. Dressed in a light beige jacket, the celebrated novelist sat alongside three other panellists as he offered an unusually personal and philosophical take on AI and human creativity. A recipient of the prestigious Mao Dun Literature Prize, Mai Jia is best known for his espionage fiction. His reflections touched on a deeper unease shared by writers and artists around the world: where human creativity stands in a time when machines are learning to imitate – and even threatening to outpace – human imagination. 'I've never really used AI,' the novelist said. 'But I've played with it. And I played with the intent of proving it's not worth playing with.' His remarks drew laughter, but it was evident he was serious about the mindset behind his experiment. Amid AI threat, Hong Kong artists say they must hone what makes art uniquely human 'I approached it with distrust. I hoped to mock it. And to a certain extent, I succeeded in doing that, so I never really used it.' Reports that Mai Jia had somehow contributed to the development of AI-generated fiction in his style were, in his own words, 'pure rumour'. 'I never demonstrated anything. I never helped build such a thing,' he said plainly. For the novelist, the rise of AI is not just a question about the future – it's a reckoning with the past. 'When we talk about AI, we think we're talking about the future. But that's not the wise thing to do,' he said. 'AI has a surging, even violent vitality. It's coming at us like a monster, like a giant we can't stop, and we have no idea where it's going or what it will become.' The 31st Beijing International Book Fair opened on Wednesday, displaying around 220,000 books from China and abroad. Photo: AFP He suggested that rather than speculate about the future of AI, people should examine its roots and view it as the culmination of a long 'digital revolution'. In his view, this revolution began when numbers first entered the human language roughly 5,000 years ago. 'When early writing systems emerged, numbers were a part of them. But numbers were never content to remain just a part of writing. They've always wanted to rebel.' The writer traces the first major turning point back to 1837, with the invention of Morse code – 'a great technology created by a great man,' he said – which allowed a message to be transmitted across oceans using only digits. This marked the first true success of the digital revolution for Mai Jia. But it came at a cost. 'Digital encoding brought us immense convenience. A message could travel from China to Europe or the United States [in one] morning. But it also introduced trouble,' he said. 'It brought cryptography. It dissolved language. It turned language into a puzzle, an obstacle.' British musicians protest government's AI plans with an 'almost' silent album Later came the second wave – computers, developed in the mid-20th century through the foundational work of figures like John von Neumann and Alan Turing. 'Instead of converting writing into ten digits, they reduced it to just two: zero and one,' he said. This, he argued, was a more complete digitisation than Morse code ever achieved. The benefits were vast – 'an entire library can now fit in a screen, a single phone' – but so were the downsides. 'When that screen is in your hand, yes, it holds endless text. But it also drains your time, digs into your greed, and pulls you downward,' he said. 'It disintegrates your attention. It exaggerates your desire to sink.' The third wave, the novelist believes, is AI. And it's the most transformative yet. 'For the first time, we are talking not just about reading or attention but about writing itself. Before, no one imagined that technology could replace the human mind in creating.' He said that today's AI revolution has created something new: a creative anxiety disorder. Over 1,700 exhibitors from 80 countries and regions took part in the fair, with Malaysia as this year's guest country of honour. Photo: Xinhua 'I don't know how this revolution will evolve. But here's what I do know: Even if AI defeats me, even if every word it writes is better than mine, I will still write,' he said. 'Not because I want to compete with it. But because writing is how I survive. If I don't read, if I don't write, I don't know how to live.' He ended with a quiet but firm conviction: 'If AI writes better than me, I'll write. If I write better than it – of course, I'll write.'
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
Quebec's corruption police raiding headquarters of auto insurance board
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WIRED
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- WIRED
Authors Are Posting TikToks to Protest AI Use in Writing—and to Prove They Aren't Doing It
Jun 18, 2025 7:00 AM Traditional and indie authors are flooding #WritersTok with videos of them editing their manuscripts to refute accusations of generative AI use—and bring readers into their very human process. Video:All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Victoria Aveyard's eyes avoid the camera when she slams her large white binder on the table, weighed down with a 1,000-page draft of her latest work in progress. The stack is heavy, made clear by her audible sigh as she splits the thick manuscript in half. Fueled with Cherry Lime Poppi and a bowl of grapes, she purposefully jots notes on the pages with every quick camera cut. Aveyard, the New York Times bestselling young adult fantasy author of the Red Queen series, doesn't say a single word in the video, but her captions on the screen speak volumes. 'Using GenAI to write a book doesn't make you a writer, it makes you a thief,' reads one. 'Don't use generative-AI to make tropey, regurgitated romantasy sludge that you can then launder through the self-publishing industry in order to backdoor your way into a traditional publishing deal,' Aveyard tells her over 460,000 followers on TikTok in another video posted on May 27. 'Authors talk.' Both TikToks garnered over 350,000 views. Criticism and warnings of Gen-AI authors snagging coveted deals are flooding both Threads and TikTok, with writers and readers sometimes flinging around accusations when they suspect someone is using AI as part of their creative process. Now, Aveyard and other prolific authors are not only calling out people who use AI to write, they're also posting livestreams and time-lapses of their writing processes to defend themselves against such complaints. 'The r/WritingWithAI subreddit has over 40,000 subscribers and growing. It's a very depressing thought, to know we may very soon be the minority,' Aveyard tells WIRED. 'I don't think my voice will move the needle much or convince anyone already using generative AI to stop, but I needed to voice my anger with the circumstances.' The publishing market is expected to grow by $18.9 million between now and 2029, according to market research firm Technavio, partially due to an influx of self-published authors. But with scammy rewrites and digitally fabricated authors entering the market, artificial intelligence has made searching for human-made content more difficult, causing independent authors to combat what some are calling an AI-generated 'witch hunt.' 'Sometimes it's hard to conceptualize the scope and scale of work that goes into writing a book, and showing a physical manuscript really helps that hit home,' Aveyard says when asked about the inspiration behind her 1,000-page editing video. She is a strong critic of AI in publishing, calling it theft of creative intellectual property. 'I post regularly on my platforms, and I'm always looking for content that catches the eye as well as emphasizes my work. And getting to emphasize my position on generative AI? An added benefit.' (Aveyard never names any specific indie authors using generative-AI to secure a traditional publishing deal.) 'Do I think authors should post 'proof'? Not necessarily,' says indie author Ashley Godschild. 'Would I like to see more authors post their process and make it clear it's without AI? Yes. Because I think we need to be loud and clear that it's not welcome in this industry.' Godschild, who penned the fantasy novel The Hunter and The Hunted, says she's been writing since childhood and goes through a lengthy process—plotting her manuscript years before putting pen to paper. A few days after seeing Aveyard's 1,000-page edit post, Godschild posted a time-lapse of herself writing at her computer, captioning the video, 'Watch this time-lapse of me writing a scene in a murder mystery TV show without the use of gen-AI.' The caption also notes that she's 'not a thief' and that 'the murderer is so unpredictable not even a machine could figure out who it is.' Some writers are using the AI controversy to remind people of the very human skills it takes to craft a complex story. YA indie author Rachel Menard posted a TikTok of herself opening drafts of one of her manuscripts, writing that if she was using AI, 'It wouldn't take me 78 drafts to get it done.' 'Everyone has forgotten what makes a book good, and it's the work that goes into it,' says Menard, who has penned three books independently. She adds that while AI may be able to 'pop out a decent spice scene,' it can't create a compelling story. 'If my characters don't feel like real people, living real lives, with real problems, then I need to keep working on it.' Quan Millz, an indie author with over 830,000 TikTok followers and well-known for his jaw-dropping 'street lit' titles like Old Thot Next Door and This Hoe Got Roaches in Her Crib , says accusations that he has used AI to write go beyond labeling him as a thief—they underestimate the cultural fluency behind his novels. Prior to revealing his identity on TikTok in 2023, Millz, who is Black, dealt with accusations that he was white and even a rumor that he was a 'CIA operative.' 'It's clear now that you use AI to write all your books. Ain't no way you're dropping the books this fast,' one commenter wrote on one of Millz's posts. Millz uses AI to make book covers, including for books that are still in the conceptual phase, but says allegations that he also writes with the tool are false. 'There's no way in hell you're going to get any of these AI models to really capture the essence of just how Black people talk,' Millz tells WIRED. The author says he has tested using AI for writing and found that the large language models censored his adult scenes and could not reproduce his nuanced tone. 'It doesn't understand that AAVE [African American Vernacular English] is not monolithic … Black people in Chicago don't sound like Black people in New York.' While Millz has hosted a couple of TikTok Lives documenting his writing process in real time, he tells WIRED that he won't be hosting more—even if it helps prove to skeptics that his written work is original. Constantly checking in with commenters hindered his writing process, he says, and he feels that while having a social presence is crucial in indie publishing, filming your process won't provide more proof of AI-free work than your work itself—at least not yet. 'I really do think that there's something else transcendent about the human experience, something mystical that we just don't know about yet, and you can feel that through the arts,' Millz says. 'When you read AI text, even if you do a good job of trying to edit it or make it your own, there's still something amiss.'
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Wolverhampton literary talent called to step into spotlight
A literature festival is calling for local talent to feature at its next Wolverhampton Literature Festival is looking for authors, poets and creatives to appear at the annual event on 6 February to 8 February 2026. Organisers have said submissions to feature as a creative, workshop facilitator or panellist are are also calling for people from around the country to apply to feature at the event that celebrates literature and the deadline for proposals is 17 August and must include the event title, contact details and a 250-word proposal. Councillor Chris Burden described the event as a "celebration of stories, voices, and creativity that bring our community together."He said: "Whether you are an emerging talent or a seasoned storyteller, we invite you to share your passion, challenge perspectives, and ignite must also include a budget breakdown and any technical requirements. It can be submitted through the events online form or as a five to ten minute audio or video entry by email. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
"Don't worry, this won't hurt"
Don't worry, this won't hurt. When has that ever turned out to be true? Parents may try to ease a child's anxiety about a medical procedure with a white lie. But lies that mislead children about their experiences are not white lies, says Allison Sweet Grant. She endured terrible pain as a child from surgery to correct one leg that was shorter than the other. In her debut novel for young adults, Grant explores themes of agency, trust, and betrayal through a 19-year-old character facing the same medical trauma she did and learning how to heal. The book is called I am the Cage.
