What words may come... |
And insanely enough, this 64-page insert, complete with bogus summaries, wasn’t created by satire sites like The Babylon Bee or The Onion but by Marco Buscaglia. Well, it wasn’t exactly written by him either. Only after the article was published, somehow making its way past the “writer”, the fact checkers, the editor or editors, and layout specialist for multiple national newspapers, was it revealed that AI had created the entire list. And this wasn’t a list of unknowns either. These are authors with sizeable bibliographies, large followings, or even a Pulitzer Prize. If it wasn’t for the dedicated followers of these major authors, we may not have known about this so quickly or maybe even at all.
Open ChatGPT, and it also warns you that it makes mistakes and prompts you to check the provided information. Why? Well, despite its name boasting its intelligence, it’s not that intelligent. It scours the World Wide Web or its own internal database for information, information that we humans provide. It’s only as good as it’s trained to be. But what does this mean for other news outlets or the articles that have been published? I have my theory, but I think that’s for you all to decide on your own.
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It appears that Moderator X had direct and unchecked access to the teens of this program as it was never regulated by any other adults. The teens themselves took to their own website to discuss the abuse and eventually eleven other NaNoWriMo users informed the staff at headquarters. This happened back in May 2023. Headquarters simply denied the allegations even though there was sufficient documentation and some members have reported that any discussion on the topic led to their being silenced, deleted, and essentially shadow banned for months. When the board of directors stepped in on November 7th, they reviewed a four-page document noting that Moderator X had “already been identified as problematic” which also outlined earlier concerns about Moderator X. It is unknown how long the staff has known of Moderator X’s misconduct. Despite the staff being knowledgeable of this behavior, Moderator X was not removed, no safety measures were put in place, and their behavior on forums began to deteriorate during the following weeks. It wasn’t until six weeks later that the moderator was removed for unrelated violations. After this time, Moderator X used various alternates to continue to communicate with the teens of the Young Writers Program. While there has been some language from the board of directors that give us pause, it should be understood that the board members are not paid for their work. They are regular Joes just like most of us who have our own hobbies, jobs, and families. And while a call for the dismissal of any staff involved has been voiced the board must adhere to US labor laws. I do hope that over the coming months we receive honesty, transparency, and action from the organization that many of us have held dear. Without this institution, many novels would have gone unwritten, and many friendships would never have been forged. You can check out the statement issued by the board of the directors HERE. A.S. HardinBuilder of worlds, creator of people, aspiring author or more realistically an avid reader and skilled procrastinator. From sci-fi to horror, I've explored it all. As of late, I find myself diving into the depths of rare and out-of-print sci-fi and fantasy. Join me on this literary journey! |
