I'm leaving Vocal Media

I'm leaving Vocal Media.

To anyone here who is subscribed to me or liked my stories, I'm sorry. I'll be joining StoryForge instead, reading my stories on YouTube, and building my brand, away from Vocal Media. If you liked me enough to find me elsewhere, you're probably a bot because I am not nearly that good of an author... yet. Thank you to everyone who gave me encouragement, especially when things were hard. Your feedback and praise lives in my head, it keeps me going when I want to give up.

The people of Vocal Media made me a better author. You all taught me things I didn't know before, took time out of your busy day to not just tell me that what I was doing wasn't working, but also explain to me why it wasn't working, and how to make it better. I am the author I am today because of Vocal Media, and the community who helped me along the way.

So, why am I leaving?

My choice to leave Vocal Media is entirely because of Vocal Media and the community at large's view on AI and its usage. Specifically, it was one article that got promoted to Vocal's front page which claimed that "Generating original A.I. pictures for your stories is quick and easy and it's your story's glue!!!" that really pushed me to this decision.

Not only is Vocal Media's stance on AI so anti-art, anti-human and cowardly, they are actively choosing to promote articles positively talking about AI. That article mentioned above? It's a top story.

Vocal Media is not a writing company. They said it themselves in their article, "An Update from Vocal on AI-Generated Content:" "As a technology company, we will not take a hard stance against AI-generated content."

And now, because they are using AI to recognize AI-written content, there are countless people who (allegedly) wrote pieces without the use of AI, and they are getting rejected due to their "AI usage," (says the AI bot). Even after attempting to say, "This is AI," the AI bot still doesn't allow their story to pass. You can find countless comments beneath that article talking about the struggles in trying to publish a story.

The community at large here on Vocal, as a result of Vocal Media's stance on AI, is pro-AI. Almost every author is generating AI images to use as cover art of their story. Even Vocal Media themselves used AI generated images for their contest images. I see comments all the time, "Isn't AI fun?"

No, it isn't.

AI is a threat to human creativity. AI is a threat to community. AI is a threat to human jobs. AI is a threat to the environment. AI is the most anti-human thing we have ever created. And right now, it is operating without brakes.

Anyone saying they "will not take a hard stance on AI" is pro-AI. This is not a gray area. Either you are firmly against AI and you believe in the power of humanity and human creativity, or you are culpable in allowing AI to continue hurting people. If we do not put the brakes on AI, if someone does not put the brakes on AI, it will consume every aspect of the community, whether you choose to use AI or not. It's already happening: real, human people are accusing other real, human people of using AI to write their pieces. It is now a bad idea when applying to a job to submit a cover letter, because a good cover letter is immediately assumed to be written by AI. Not taking a hard stance on AI is the same thing as being pro-AI. You are allowing AI to be used on your platform, and you are allowing this rhetoric to continue.

And to every author who is "pro-AI generated images" and who are using "AI-generated images" for the "glue of their writing pieces," I have a few words for you. Firstly, if the most fundamental thing about your piece, the thing that holds your written piece together, the thing that draws people to your written piece, is the image you put on its cover, your writing isn't worth reading.

In writing, we move people emotionally with our words alone. We bring people to tears, we bring people to laughter. Our words live rent-free in people's minds and haunt them at 3 a.m. when they can't sleep. Our words make people pause before making a decision, and in that moment of pause festers the words that we wrote in warning. That has nothing to do with the image you chose to represent your piece.

Can an exciting image draw people to your content? Yeah, it can. We are visual creatures; we eat with our eyes long before we eat with our mouths or our souls. Would I ever, ever, say that the image you use for your writing is the "glue holding your piece together?"

Never.

Plenty of great stories start with an "acceptable but bland" image and get an upgrade later. People still choose to read that story because it was recommended to them by their friends and peers. It was vetted as being "good" by human beings in their community. Never in my personal life have I heard someone say, "You should read this book because the cover is really pretty."

And another thing: those of you authors who use AI-images, you are artists yourselves. How can you justify the use of an AI-image? Digital artists, photographers, human artists are suffering because AI-generated images are taking the place of paid work and views for them. You would be angry if somebody submitted an AI-written piece to Vocal Media and won, while you struggled for hours on your piece, wouldn't you? Then why is it acceptable for you to win a Vocal Media competition with an AI image? Especially when Vocal Media has a whole compilation of Unsplash images taken by real human people that you can use... for free.

Rules for thee but not for me? It's fine if I use an AI image because I'm not an artist, but I hate people that generate AI written pieces?

Authors are artists. You are an artist.

You are an artist.

This is not an "us versus them" debate. I so often see authors fighting with artists, I so often see writing being excluded from the arts. We are all artists, be it digital, traditional, or written. When you support AI for a different art discipline, you are hurting the very community that you yourself are a part of.

This is me supporting my fellow artists. This is me supporting my fellow humans. This is me taking a hard stance on AI.

I'm leaving Vocal Media. And you should, too.