Author Versus AI

Who will declare victory in the battle between human and machine?

To give you a bit of background, my name is Alison McBain, and in addition to the books and stories currently published under my own name, I’ve been fiction ghostwriting for a while now in several different genres — romance, fantasy, and literary. On average, I can write about 40,000+ words a week, which is the standard definition for the minimum length of a novel.

Yes, you heard that right— I often write a book a week for clients.

When I was in discussion with a friend and fellow writer, the mind-blowing question he asked me was: “Well, if you’re doing it for other people, why not do it for yourself?”

Good point, friend. Good point.

It got the wheels turning. Right now, everyone is concerned about how AI might/will take over the jobs of writers. I publish a literary magazine — yes, AI is a concern, and even at my small magazine, we’ve received some AI stories in our submissions.

However, they’re bad. Laughably bad. That might not always be the case, but it is right now.

So, when AI gets better, where does it leave authors?

For a few well-known writers, that leaves them in exactly the same place — I don’t think Stephen King or Neil Gaiman are too worried right now. But for newer or lesser-known writers, that does create a bit of a pickle. Why should a reader take a chance on your books if they can get the same thing instantaneously from AI?

My point is that artificial intelligence will never be as good, and that people will want REAL stories from REAL authors who are, you know, human. The only problem is that many authors can’t keep up with the sheer output of AI.

However, I’m going to give it a try.

If you want to see one author take on AI, check back here as I prep my materials and get ready to write, starting January 1, 2024.

I will write a book — 40,000+ words, barring categories like poetry, children’s, etc. — every week for the full year. That’s 52 books, totaling over 2 MILLION words.

All in one year.

And it won’t just be ONE genre. I plan on doing multiple genres, even a series or two. I’m going to show that an author can be versatile and create good work that a reader would like to read, no matter what you like to read.

Stick around and see if this author can beat AI and do it just as fast, much better, and with the stamina to continue. And, perhaps, it might just inspire you to write your own stories too.

Together, let’s make sure that AI doesn’t win. We — the writers and other creatives — can ALWAYS beat AI in a head-to-head match. You just need to grab your pen and get ready to fight.

Want to learn more? I’m still setting up my website — I’ll be adding more to it each week — but also look for content to come soon to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X, Facebook and here on Medium, of course. If you’d like to follow me here, please drop a message in the comments so I can follow you back.