#nanowrimo shouldn't be defended

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Nanowrimo supports AI (along with a groomer) AKA Downfall of Nanowrimo.

In case you don't want to click, here are some screen captures from the page:

What is NaNoWriMo's position on Artificial Intelligence (AI)? 2 days agoUpdated Not yet followed by anyone NaNoWriMo does not explicitly support any specific approach to writing, nor does it explicitly condemn any approach, including the use of AI. NaNoWriMo's mission is to "provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people use their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page." We fulfill our mission by supporting the humans doing the writing. Please see this related post that speaks to our overall position on nondiscrimination with respect to approaches to creativity, writer's resources, and personal choice.  We also want to be clear in our belief that the categorical condemnation of Artificial Intelligence has classist and ableist undertones, and that questions around the use of AI tie to questions around privilege.  Classism. Not all writers have the financial ability to hire humans to help at certain phases of their writing. For some writers, the decision to use AI is a practical, not an ideological, one. The financial ability to engage a human for feedback and review assumes a level of privilege that not all community members possess. Ableism. Not all brains have same abilities and not all writers function at the same level of education or proficiency in the language in which they are writing. Some brains and ability levels require outside help or accommodations to achieve certain goals. The notion that all writers “should“ be able to perform certain functions independently or is a position that we disagree with wholeheartedly. There is a wealth of reasons why individuals can't "see" the issues in their writing without help.  General Access Issues. All of these considerations exist within a larger system in which writers don't always have equal access to resources along the chain. For example, underrepresented minorities are less likely to be offered traditional publishing contracts, which places some, by default, into the indie author space, which inequitably creates upfront cost burdens that authors who do not suffer from systemic discrimination may have to incur.  Beyond that, we see value in sharing resources and information about AI and any emerging technology, issue, or discussion that is relevant to the writing community as a whole. It's healthy for writers to be curious about what's new and forthcoming, and what might impact their career space or their pursuit of the craft. Our events with a connection to AI have been extremely well-attended, further-proof that this programming is serving Wrimos who want to know more.  For all of those reasons, we absolutely do not condemn AI, and we recognize and respect writers who believe that AI tools are right for them. We recognize that some members of our community stand staunchly against AI for themselves, and that's perfectly fine. As individuals, we have the freedom to make our own decisions.

BTW, grooming is here: https://www.ravenoak.net/the-fall-of-nanowrimo/

And they had issues with racism before that.

And BTW, it's not ableist to not use AI. I knew a ton of people with various disabilities on the boards who were actively arguing for activism and disability.

I saw an argument that it's anti-ND to say that people can't use AI and that's horseshit, seriously. And then they tried to say autism, but I know PLENTY of autistic authors and writers. There are autistic people in every profession. like WTF. And BTW, not Autistic, but to argue anti-ND? No.

It's not classicism either.

But I will tell you that Nanowrimo in my days there was highly racist. They claimed for days they had a "diverse staff" and then when they did a group photo they were all white in the picture (as far as I could tell) and were A-OK with people posting pro-KKK things on forums like threatening PoC writers with burning crosses on their lawns.

So am I surprised they went down the double dark path, no. But I do wish they had turned it around. And BTW, I have to plug a tiny IToldYouSo to We Need Diverse Books. I was like, why are you supporting Nanowrimo when they have a history of racism? And they were like, A-OK with us. (I had the thread at the time with the moderators saying that the N word spelled out was OK and this is not a democracy and making excuses that people who were literally of those labels argued against while they were like But what about autistic people and autistic people said, we'll be just fine with this (in thread). Also, WTF is with NTs hanging out Autistic people out to dry while autistic people are telling you WTF?). What exact reform happened? None.

Ah, do I remember the long threads of people arguing how Europe didn't trade? I absolutely do.

BTW, the reason they locked the forums they way they did was so people couldn't complain about their groomer whom they protected.

Sometimes you know before you know. That's me with nanowrimo and that author who shall not be named. I felt iffy about her first book.

BTW, I didn't know with the recent other author who tried to blame his autism for his SA. But Like WTH is with people also *shocked* that his shows are being canceled? That whole block baffles me. But I'm irked.