Let’s face it. GenerativeAI (GenAI) is probably the most talked about subject for fiction andnon-fiction writers (and editors, publishers, cover creators, etc.) today. Thetopic is pretty much everywhere you look, and with good reason. 

People arepissed about GenAI. Those companies have stolen our (yes, I’m one of them)works to train their AI babies. And that is wrong. If nothing else, we deserveour royalties for what would’ve been sales of books. And the AI companiesshould have to pay fines on top of that for blatantly disregarding the law. 

There’s also thewhole concern over plagiarism, but I’m in the camp that feels there can be noaction taken regarding that because there’ve been no examples of it happening(except when told to). The AI doesn’t regurgitate chunks of prose from thisbook and that book to create a new story; it calculates patterns, ‘learns’ whenand where to put words. So let’s put that aside for this discussion. And let’salso put aside some other concerns: the ecological disaster that is the AIbusiness model and the fact that AI writing has no feeling, no soul. It’s coldand kinda dull. 

For writerslike me (and hopefully you), the core of our conviction is never use AI forcreative generation. That means no plot designs, no rewriting of scenes, nostyle emulation (rewrite this story so it sounds like King, or Straub, or Pelayo!).No generative prose. 

But does thatmean we can’t use it for other purposes? There is non-generative AI, and maybeyou’re not aware of it, but you use it every day (you probably use GenAI, too,and aren’t aware, but again, let’s ignore that for now). 

And there’s noreason not to use it. It’s here. It’s being integrated into every aspect ofyour life, so unless you intend to go full Luddite, the ecological concerns aregoing to have to be solved in another manner besides ‘Do Not Use.’ 

Using AI for businesspurposes, to free up more of your time for writing and editing, is no differentthan using things like spreadsheets, calculators, web development templates,etc. It doesn’t shape your art, or change it. It just lets you do more of it. 

How can you useAI responsibly, safely, and ethically, as a writer? Here are some examples: 

1.   AdministrativeSupport. Things like Calendly or Google Calendar can streamline and automatescheduling, calendar management, and more. This will help you coordinate thingslike book tours, signings, virtual appearances, and meetings.

2.   Research.Yes, we’re all aware that Google is the go-to for looking up information. Butsoon-probably within a year-all Google searches will be conducted through AI onthe backend, so it behooves us all to learn how to phrase prompts and searchqueries to obtain the best possible information. For example, in AI, you haveto tell the tool to provide citations and to eliminate any sources that aren’t verified.And the upside will be that as fast as Google is now, using AI for obtainingfactual data, creating historical timelines, even providing trivia about timeperiods, will be nearly instantaneous. And it can be done without creatingnarrative text, so no GenAI issues.

3.   BusinessAnalytics. Dashboards, sales data analysis, reader demographics. It can all becharted, graphed, and summaries in seconds, which is a great help for writerswho are actively involved in their own sales and marketing efforts.

4.   WebsiteUpdates & Changes. Not all authors are also web designers, or evencompetent at updating the information on their websites. Or creatingstorefronts. AI can take your existing code, and with a simple command(modernize the format of this page; change the font and graphics colors on thispage), your site can have an updated look. Or you can tell it to create anentire store front. You can even use it to evaluate your online presence andrecommend improvements relating to SEO, click-throughs, readability, mobile featuresreadiness, etc. And contrary to popular believe, this isn’t going to put webdesigners out of business. After all, that website has to be up and runningbefore you can use AI to modify or update it. And who’s doing that? Webdesigners – many of whom are already using AI to either code or QC check thecode that’s being used.

5.   AdOptimization. If you’re advertising on Amazon or Facebook, AI can automate andoptimize your spend model to maximize sales and profitability.

6.   Transcription.AI speech-to-text tools can record and transcribe recordings, includinginterviews or even notes you speak into your phone.

7.   Formattinga document for publication. AI can do ebook formatting and create print-readyPDFs if you don’t have those tools on your computer (and if you do, like inWord or Acrobat or Calibre, you’re using AI already).

8.   Proofing.Using AI to proofread and grammar check is not the same as using GenAI to editsomething. A tool like Grammarly or even ChatGPT can not only spot spellingmistakes and misused words, but also punctuation issues and even repetitivewords. These tools can be used with the GenAI/content analysis functions turnedoff and they are more accurate than Word’s spell/grammar check.

9.   Backupand Security. Tools like Carbonite, Acronis, Rubrik, and Veeam can provideautomated backup services and also provide added security beyond what yourcomputer presently has. 

Now, not all ofthese will be applicable for all writers. Maybe only one or two will be helpfulfor you. Maybe none at all. And like I said earlier, this is separate from theconcept of not using it on principle because of environmental concerns or moralconcerns. 

From what Isee, and the experts I talk to, AI is here to stay. We’re living through one ofthe most dynamic periods in technological history. Change is happening, whetherwe want it to or not. 

The key tosuccess isn’t to resist change — it’s to find ways to use it responsibly and toour benefit, without compromising our principles. Otherwise, we will be leftbehind.