Tentatively heartened to see a swift and apologetic response from the HWA on this (the trustee has been removed). Would love some assurances on how to prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future once the newsletter process is reviewed.
Emma Cole@editrixemma.bsky.social · 8h agoI would love for things to change. I'd even love to be part of that change. But as it stands, it does not seem like the organization is interested in hearing dissenting opinions, as evidenced by the combative and frankly unprofessional rant by a serving trustee in the org's official newsletter.
![Todd Keisling
Just now
With regard to today's HWA/Newsletter discourse, here's something I had to say about Al in a recent interview:
"There's been a steady erosion of appreciation in the work that real artists do. Somehow, the work that entertains and enriches our lives has been deemed disposable and not worth actual effort. Personally, it's been disheartening to see a percentage of the populace embrace the soulless slop that Al produces; it's hurtful to see many non-artists shrug their shoulders and say, 'So what?' or 'It's not going away, so just use it.' It's infuriating to find many so-called 'Al artists' who are ripping people off by charging for their slop and passing it as a professionally-made cover; doubly so for the authors and publishers out there who are embracing it and feigning shock when they're called out, or worse, simply not caring about the negative impact it has on the world. Whenever I see an Al cover, I question the integrity of the author whose words are being represented. You can't claim to have pride in your work if you're using a system that was trained on the stolen work of thousands of other artists. It's malignant hypocrisy. ...] [We need to] educate the public on the dangers of Al usage and adjudicate the bad actors who insist on using it within creative spaces. To quote Batman, it is the weapon of the enemy. We do not need it; we will not use it."
So, there's that.
Furthermore, an organization that publishes a trustee's pro-Al rant to an audience of creatives whose work was literally stolen to train LLMs is not only questionable, but negligent and disingenuous as well--especially when the trustee is actively promoting their own Al-powered app. The author's false-equivalency comparing the matter to the struggles of indigenous folks is both ignorant and deceptive.
To the HWA: Fix your org. And to the author: Fix your heart.
At the bottom is an image of buildings from fallout, with "[Everyone disliked that.]" over top.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yl6tapfiaxmq6megbp2vf322/bafkreibii4knbvheenegp7aqg62qmw7xc5a2b4gdtdtsalk3ouxx66btou)
