NaNo No-no: How NaNoWriMo Canceled Themselves

Oh boy, Story Quester, has NaNoWriMo really stepped in it this time. 😬 Maybe you heard what went down last week, or maybe you didn’t. And maybe you know, or maybe you don’t, but I started my writing career with NaNoWriMo.

Yep. It was 14 years ago, back in 2010. When I started writing what would go on to become my first novel, Daemons in the Mist. And since then, I’ve participated in more than a dozen NaNo events. 

However, despite the good they’ve done for the storytelling community, I absolutely cannot condone and stand with their recent series of bad decisions. Including this offensive view on AI they released this week:

Excuse me what? Are you seriously blaming the blatant theft of creative works on making tools for the underprivileged and disabled?

And I’m not the only one wondering WTF NaNoWriMo?! It was toxic enough that in less than a day the news hit everyone from The Washington Post to Wired to BookRiot.

But what I want to ask the team heading NaNoWriMo is…

🤔 How does AI help people in remote places of the world write stories when they don’t even have access to the minimum required?

🤔 How does AI help someone whose only access to a computer is within a classroom or library?

🤔 How does AI help a child craft a story when they can neither read nor write?

The answer is it CAN’T.

But what that person in a remote place of the world, that person without access to their own computer, and that child who cannot yet read or write do have in common is a mind. And the ability to create within it. And really that’s all they truly need to create a story.

I’m completely serious. How do I know? Because I couldn’t read or write until I was nearly 9, but I still made up stories every damned day of the week. I made stuff up in my head. I told stories to my pet cat. 🐈‍⬛

And I’m not the only one. Go talk to a child—any child—and they will tell you a random story about clouds befriending birds. Or the monster in the dryer that eats left socks. Or their encyclopedic knowledge of Pokémon. 

The point is, you don’t need a piece of technology to write a story FOR you, Story Quester. You just need YOU.

That being said… I will acknowledge there has been a bit of a misunderstanding when it comes to AI. Because there are technically 2 types of AI. 

There’s the Accessibility Type AI:

👉 It’s what notifies me that I’ve misspelled the same words again.

👉 Allows me to dictate notes or story ideas to my computer with a double tap of a button. 

👉 Or it allows auditory-impaired moviegoers at a theater the ability to have subtitles displayed on a personal device that fits in the cupholder. 

Accommodations like these allow those of us with disabilities to participate equally in our society and take full advantage of our current technology.

And then there’s the evil Toxic Type of AI:

👉 This is built from the theft of other creatives’ intellectual property (their paintings, illustrations, stories, and music).

👉 It is NOT created from a desire to democratize the ability to create, but from capitalist greed. 

Think I’m wrong? 

OpenAI all but admitted that without the theft of the creative works of others, they would be unable to generate a profit. But because of that, we should basically just let them do it. Because capitalism. 

Unfortunately, Toxic AI is still around for the time being, but…I don’t want to leave you with an awful feeling hanging over you, Story Quester. So what can YOU do now that NaNoWriMo has made itself radioactive? ☢️

Well, I’m sure there will be plenty of exciting new groups and challenges that crop up come November. However, right now there’s still time to join me and others for Scenetember.

Until next time, this is your friendly neighborhood storytelling Kat signing off.