Fanfare’s Official Stance on AI Stories

In short: There’s only one kind of AI welcome here*

There’s a brief moment in the first Star Wars film (e.g. A New Hope) that never really made sense to me, no matter how many times I’ve seen it (trust me, it’s a lot of times). But of late, it feels especially pertinent.

Shortly after Luke Skywalker decides that yes, he actually would like to follow old Obi-Wan on some damned fool idealistic crusade, the two stop in a Mos Eisley cantina to find passage off-planet. Luke enters the bar looking like the country bumpkin he is, followed by his two droids. A sensor goes off and the bartender flips the eff out. He tells Luke in no uncertain terms that the droids aren’t welcome and need to get lost.

The moment always struck me as odd and a bit mean-spirited. What harm could the droids possibly do? Was it just that they’d take up space but not buy any of his space whiskey? Was he anti-droid on principle? Was he a luddite? (Star Wars is at its best when it poses such questions but never answers them.)

The bartender came to mind as I sat down to write this. I finally understand his response to seeing droids on his doorstep. And, like him, my response to AI here at Fanfare will probably leave some people looking askew. But my bar, my rules.

AI content is not writing and has no place here.

(I made this a heading because frankly just bolding the text didn’t provide the intended emphasis.)

You can’t go anywhere on the Internet these days without stumbling across an article about AI. Some of it is quite interesting. Even I was curious enough to play around with ChatGPT — the experience was enlightening, but on the whole, it just felt like a slightly better version of Siri. But like the beginning of COVID, it all seemed to be happening far away and to other people. I thought it’d be a while before it reached Fanfare’s shores.

I recently received an application for entrance into the hallowed ranks of Fanfare writers that was clearly AI-generated. The hallmarks are pretty obvious to spot — a glaring lack of humor or humanity. The article was just an arrangement of words. It had no soul. Rejecting that “writer” was easy. Harder was the realization that this is now a problem I need to address head-on.

The official Fanfare position on AI content:

• Any aspiring writers who submits AI content will be barred at the gates like the uncivilized barbarians they are.
• Any current Fanfare writer that submits an AI-generated story will likewise be shown the exit. No second chances, no redos. That may sound harsh but I want to be completely clear on this.

Harder to spot are stories where someone uses AI to create the bones of an article and then adds enough flesh to pass muster. Look — I take this writing business very seriously. I take great pride in my ability to create a piece of work out of nothing. It’s a kind of magic. It really is. I understand that not everyone thinks as I do.

I’m honestly not sure how I can police such activity. Or even if I should. Everyone has their own process. If talking to an AI helps kickstart yours, so be it. Where I draw the line — where I’ve always drawn the line — is based entirely on the quality of the writing.

From the Fanfare submissions guidelines, which is the nearest thing to our mission statement:

We are looking for strong writing with a clear voice and unique point of view.

I wrote those words 4 years ago. They are just as true today. Good writing is the only requirement.

If you handcraft all of your stories and put your heart into them, you have nothing to worry about. If you use AI to assist in the process, you do so at your own risk.

I won’t presume to tell you how to write. I can only tell you, as a publisher, how I will respond. Weak writing — AI-assisted or not — has never been welcome here. Fanfare was envisioned as a place to celebrate pop culture with thoughtful and emotive articles. I made a passing joke on a podcast about how I pictured Fanfare as a pop culture version of the New Yorker, which is stupidly pretentious and not entirely accurate. But by that I meant, we celebrate and elevate quality writing. That is the purest distillation of my purpose for this publication.

So in a way, AI changes nothing. You have to be a great writer to get in the door. Keeping your spot was never really an issue before. I’ve never demoted anyone. But I will be scrutinizing pieces more frequently. If I reject several of your stories, we’ll probably have a conversation. Again, that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with AI. But it might (and if you rely on AI, I suspect it will).

I’ve been trying to be mindful of my tone this entire time. How best to be completely transparent about where the lines are drawn but still be supportive? Hopefully you will see this stance as a net positive. Fanfare’s reputation hinges entirely on the quality of the stories we publish. If we fall down there, what do we have left?

This all sort of boggles my mind. The future is a strange place.

In summary: when it comes to AI content, the bartender said it best.

Hopefully this isn’t overly contentious, but I will respond to all questions and comments. Thank you!

*the only AI freely permissible at Fanfare are the ones from stories: C-3PO, HAL 9000, Wall-E, etc.

Eric Pierce is a Michigan-based writer and a fantasy and sci-fi author. He is a regular contributor to /Film and Den of Geek. Subscribe to his Substack if you are into insightful yet hilarious commentary on your favorite things.