The National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) organization is facing a lot of criticism online because of their controversial takes on the use of AI writing tools. However, what was previously inferred by participants and contributors from past official statements may have been misleading.
NaNoWriMo’s administration has had a lot of controversy over the years, but with the concept of AI writing, the dispute online has risen once again. The organization’s supposed neutrality on the topic of AI usage for writing has sparked disappointment and dissatisfaction with people, and many are choosing to not participate in the company’s events, especially the main one in November.
However, the organization’s point in the matter was reported as them trying to better include those with cognitive impairments, and to be as inclusive as possible, while not harming the works of/the authors themselves.
NaNoWriMo’s main event usually takes place during the entire month of November, which is shortly approaching. The point of the event and organization is to encourage participants – authors of all kinds – to spend the whole month achieving the goals they set using the official site. Authors could use the tools provided to set goals, and then achieve them during the month.
The original challenge set by the organization was to write 50,000 words in a month. The organization was first founded in 1999, and became officially non-profit in 2006. The whole point of the site is to have authors meet their goals, and add to or create text for a rough draft of a novel.
However, in September of this year, the organization’s administration released an official statement, expressing their thoughts on the use of AI writing during their events.
“NaNoWriMo neither explicitly supports nor condemns any approach to writing, including the use of tools that leverage AI,” the organization stated on their site.
The organization’s stance of neutrality on the matter caused a large number of people to express their dissatisfaction, and a decision to not participate in any of the events. Many writers who previously participated in NaNoWriMo are no longer doing as such, and a couple of people previously on the company’s writer’s board have stepped down.
However, one important thing to note is that the organization understands the harm that generative AI has had on lots of people. Administration stated as such on their official website, in a rewrite of the original statement on the support of AI.
“We recognize that harm has been done to the writing and creative communities at the hands of bad actors in the generative AI space, and that the ethical questions and risks posed by some aspects of this technology are real,” administration posted.
The administrators’ main point is that AI can be used maliciously, yes. But as a tool to assist in writing, not to create the whole work for the author, it can be rather helpful. NaNoWriMo’s neutrality on the use of AI is directed towards tools in writing like grammar checks, or writing prompts powered by AI.
An important thing to know is that on NaNoWriMo’s official site, one would find a revised version of the original statement regarding AI. Most of the controversy was born from the unrevised version, where it was incidentally implied that people who did not support the use of AI could be viewed as ableist or classist, based on the previous wording in an article on the official site.
Some people misinterpreted the intention of what had been previously said, and so, a rewrite was in order. The official site now notes that the opposite of what was interpreted was intended.
“To be clear, we certainly don’t believe those with concerns about AI to be classist or ableist. Not being more careful about our wording was a bad decision on our part,” officials from the non-profit said. “We were by no means saying that we believe that differently-abled people ‘need’ AI in order to write.”
The organization still supports the use of AI as long as it has no harmful intentions, which leads those in fervent opposition to artificial intelligence to choose to still not participate in their events.
However, while there are some people who have stopped participating, it wouldn’t be wrong to predict that a great number of people will still write in NaNoWriMo this coming November.
