Artificial Intelligence and the Writer: November 18th, 2025
Details
Our November meeting will be devoted to a conversation about issues created by the recent growth of AI. During the course of a discussion mediated by Dan Brehm, we’ll address –
- What is AI? (Spellcheck, Autofill, Scrivener, Google Search, ChatGPT, etc.?) Is there a practical definition we can use?
- How can AI help writers and the writing process?
- How can AI hurt writers and the writing process?
- Does AI have any place in the arts?
- Can an ethical code fix things? (Copyright Infringement, Copyright Ineligibility, Consent, Compensation, Disclosure)
There are many opinions and few clear truths on this topic. Come prepared to share your thoughts. If you want to do homework, take a look at the Author’s Guild’s recommended best practices at:
https://authorsguild.org/resource/ai-best-practices-for-authors/
Another discussion of their positions is available at:
https://authorsguild.org/advocacy/artificial-intelligence/faq/
The U.S. Copyright Office has taken the position that “the outputs of generative AI can be protected by copyright only where a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements.” Their 52 page report can be found at:
https://www.copyright.gov/newsnet/2025/1060.html
Various law firms have summarized this report. One summary can be found at:
https://perkinscoie.com/insights/update/copyright-office-solidifies-stance-copyrightability-ai-generated-works
For a better understanding of Generative Intelligence, there’s a Wikipedia entry at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_artificial_intelligence