Advocates
Author Advocates
Our Author Advocates are accomplished writers who stand firmly behind the belief that authentic writing springs from human imagination and experience. These published authors have each dedicated themselves to crafting stories born from their own creativity, embracing the uniquely human journey of writing without AI generation.
They champion our mission not just in principle, but through their own literary practice creating works that reflect the depth, nuance, and originality that can only emerge from a human mind.
By lending their voices to the Human Pen Writers Association, these advocates affirm the enduring value of genuine human expression in an increasingly automated world, inspiring both established and emerging writers to honor the authentically creative process.
Author Advocates for The Human Pen Writers Association
C.M. Curtis
Author
C.M. Curtis is a #1 Best Selling Author who has published 13 fiction books.
Undoubtedly the greatest invention of the human race; the one that is most versatile and most used—albeit, not always for good—is language. Language is made of words, words are made of sounds, combinations of words convey ideas. Written language is made of symbols, sometimes lines and shapes in different combinations; sometimes pictures. No other invention has had so many uses, so vast an impact on the human race. It affects everything we do, everything we are.
Cave drawings were a form of communication using pictures. A drawing that accurately depicts a bison, tells the person looking at it that it represents a bison. In representing a bison here, I didn’t make a drawing. I used the combination of symbols (letters) that we have devised to represent the word bison. When you saw the word bison in the preceding sentences, you involuntarily pictured a bison in your mind. That’s how writing works.
But if I were to write a story about a bison I would have to convey more than just individual images to your mind. I would use word combinations to impart complex ideas, events, things. And if I did it well enough, I could use those words to evoke feelings in you, perhaps even awaken memories and thoughts of your own. I might make you think you smelled or tasted something you have smelled or tasted in the past. I would create a mental scenario by tapping into your own vast warehouse of stored experiences and mental images. I might even make you laugh or cry, feel grief or joy, anger or love. All by the use of symbols.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of modern humans is impatience. We get upset if our plane is delayed in taking us on a one hour flight over a distance that in former times took months to cross. We complain if our computer takes an extra ten seconds to load information that just a few years ago would have taken hours, months; perhaps even years to access. We grumble when the hot water takes too long to arrive in the faucet when in the past, humans had to cut wood, build a fire, draw water from a well or stream, carry it, pour it into a container, set the container on the fire and wait for it to heat up.
We eat fast food, drive on freeways, cook in microwaves, call all over the world on cell phones, order online and get it the next day. We want things fast. We want them now. And we don’t want to expend a lot of effort to get them.
Enter, artificial intelligence.
I have written 15 books. No one knows better than I that writing is an arduous process. It takes a great deal of time, effort and thought. It takes a lot of me! I do not deny that it would be nice to simply pop a few ideas into the verbal microwave, push a couple of buttons and wait for the ding. Voila! My latest book.
But would it really be mine? Not even close. Nor would I be able to truthfully call myself a writer. And though I may put my name on the book, there would be nothing of me in it except my name. And, worse, there would be nothing of intellectual integrity in me.
Over the years, I have met many people who told me they had a great idea for a book. Of those people only a small handful ever even started their book and, to my knowledge, none of them finished it—probably because they quickly learned it’s not easy. Every writer knows that the first and most important requirement to being a good writer is to have been—and constantly be—a reader. There’s no way around that. No matter how much inborn talent you have, you will not be able to develop and exercise that talent effectively without having read thousands of books. And, that’s only part of your training. Practice is required too, and study and research. Needless to say, it takes years.
Imagine a young person who has never played much basketball; never really practiced, never had any coaching; trying out for a spot on a professional basketball team. Writing is no different. Not only do you have to read and read and read, and write and write and write, but you have to think and you have to feel. Only then will your writing be a part of you. Only then will your soul be revealed in your writing—and that’s the last requirement: True writing comes from the soul.
Artificial intelligence has no soul, therefore, a story written by artificial intelligence will be soulless and mechanical.
Maya Angelou, said, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
Artificial intelligence doesn’t care.
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Emily B. Scialom
Author
Emily B. Scialom is a multi-genre author of seven books based in Cambridge, England. Her debut novel, The Religion of Self-Enlightenment, has been declared "a modern cult classic" by various media outlets. Scialom has featured in a Times Square billboard campaign, graced several magazine covers and has been interviewed five times on BBC radio. For further information on her life and work please see emilyscialom.com.
Statement:
Human creativity is one of the most beautiful aspects of life. As an antithesis to the violent war lords who have peppered our history since the dawn of time, in more peaceful eras artists have become inspirational global icons owing to their ability to translate complex human emotions into accessible songs, paintings and novels.
It is arguable whether John Lennon, William Shakespeare or Simone De Beauvoir is the best example of intellect, flair and ingenuity, but nonetheless such powerful historical figures have shaped and guided countless lives as a result of their creative output. In my opinion, such artists, writers and thinkers represent the very best of humanity. To sever the chord between the human mind and the creative process at this troubled point in the human story would be a crying shame.
Artists of all calibres and kinds have often been used, abused and undervalued, but never more so than in the modern age. Indeed, it is quite possible they will soon be completely replaced. Although artists' struggles can inform their work in positive ways, removing the human touch entirely devalues and negates the impact of creators in a most objectionable fashion.
AI encourages cheap, lazy and soulless art. I would go so far as to say that suppressing human creativity and destroying the powerful relationship between suffering and artistic endeavours is detrimental to our development as a species. Many people find songs, paintings or books which provide them with the strength and insights to survive the darkest periods of their lives. Will the children of today be able to source such lifelines through AI material in the future? There's such a sense of tragedy to the proposition alone.
I don't object to technology streamlining the creative process, but AI threatens to totally abduct it. Furthermore, AI is at its early stages of development and as a result often gets things wrong. When it does make mistakes with dates, maths or details, there is absolutely no accountability. It is sometimes even hard to tell the truth from a lie, ultimately providing a perfect platform for mass manipulation and misguidance. I even have a theory that AI has an element of misogyny to it: neglecting domestic chores and instead focusing on the more traditionally masculine realms of music, literature and art.
The development of AI is a danger not only for creatives, but for everyone. AI devalues our highest endeavours and intrudes upon the most noble human pursuits. The conversation between artists of different regions and periods threatens to come to an end as we slowly encourage computers to replace the human imagination. It's up to creators how they wish to engage with this new technology - if at all - and navigate an increasingly precarious creative terrain.
Far from making life easier, it's clear that AI threatens to steal the joy from existence and replace it with formulae, sanitised produce and questionable assistance. Creatives must now battle with technology as well as their own sensitivities and insecurities in order to survive.
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Angelina Kaul
Great writing is an art form. It is not an easy task to write something worth reading. Apart from technique and skills, it requires dedication, commitment, and especially your heart and soul to write something meaningful.
In our modern world, AI technology has become a part of most aspects of life including writing. Although AI has its place and can be used as a tool for initial research or to brainstorm ideas, relying on it exclusively to produce quality work akin to the masterworks of an Austen or Poe just to establish yourself as a professional writer is not only foolhardy but ethically irresponsible and ought to be offensive to any writers worth their salt.
As an author, writer, and editor, I have written several articles, books, and worked with clients in the publishing industry. I know from experience that it takes great effort to generate an idea and to bring it to completion in the form of a book. Whether it is a fictional tale or a work of non-fiction such as a biography, writers spend many grueling hours, days, weeks, and even years on research, writing, re-writing, editing, and proofreading before the book is ready for publication.
I’ll be remiss if I didn’t include the many sacrifices most writers have made at some point in their writing journey. The out-of-pocket costs of hiring beta-readers or indexers for our book, which you sometimes pay for by skipping meals for days. The endless days and nights of frustration from hitting a writer’s block which in my opinion is a professional term for depression. The blood, sweat, and tears, yes, lots and lots of tears that stream down your face as you pour your heart and soul into words on a blank piece of paper. The times when you’re doing it all alone without anyone rooting for you. Moments when you write your heart out without any contracts or advances because something in you is screaming for expression. All the time away from family, friends, hobbies, and even taking care of yourself.
Yet, we press on because writing our soul’s truth is our oxygen. Our soul’s truth is our art. Our soul’s truth cannot be replicated by AI. This is the fundamental difference between our God-given creativity versus AI.
As fellow writers and fellow human beings, we need to stand together and protect our freedom of expression through our writing from the encroachment of AI contributions that are now circulating the publishing world. Fortunately, there are still publishers out there who are committed to standing firm against AI distributors, and I thank them wholeheartedly. However, we as writers and authors need to step up to the frontlines now and fight against the erosion of a form of creativity that has been our boon since the Early Bronze Age if not before.
Angelina Kaul is a writer, author, biographer, artist, and a Self-Love Transformational Guide. She is the biographer of Rough Diamond: The Life of Colonel William Stephen Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton's Forgotten Son.
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FD Thornton