A short story called “The Last Hope” first got on the Sheila Williams table in early January. Williams, editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction, read the story and passed it on, writes The Verge.
At first, she didn’t think much of it; she reads and responds to writers daily as part of her job, receiving anywhere from 700 to 750 stories a month. But when another story, also titled “The Last Hope,” came in a couple of weeks later by a writer with a different name, Williams became suspicious. By the time yet another “The Last Hope” came a few days later, Williams knew immediately she had a problem on her hands.
From the moment of first sending, Williams received more than 20 stories called “The Last Hope”, each of which was sent from different authors and from different e-mail addresses. Williams believes that they were all created with the help of AI, as well as hundreds of other similar applications, which have overwhelmed small publishers in recent months.
In January, Asimov’s Science Fiction received about 900 stories for consideration, and this month plans to receive 1000. Sheila Williams says that almost all growth was at the expense of works that seem to be created by artificial intelligence, and she has read so many that she can now often tell from the first few words whether something might not be written by a human.
In addition to repeating titles, there are certain names of characters that tend to appear frequently, says Williams. Sometimes the manuscript contains a different name than the one indicated in the online form. In optional cover letters, some authors add instructions on how to transfer money for their story, which has not yet been accepted.
At the same time, Asimov’s Science Fiction receives stories with dozens of similar names: “The Last Echo,” “The Last Message,” “The Last Day of Autumn,” and “The Last Voyager.”
Williams and her team have learned to recognize works created by artificial intelligence, but the flow of applications is still disappointing. Outlets like Asimov’s are getting overwhelmed by AI chum, taking up the time of editors and readers and potentially crowding out genuine submissions from newer writers. And the problem could only get worse, as the wider availability of writing bots creates a new genre of get-rich-quick schemes.
