Writing and the Creeping Effects of AI

With some sadness, I learned yesterday that the "NaNoWriMo" organization has closed down, after 25 years.

NaNoWriMo stands for "National Novel Writing Month" and was a 30-day challenge every November, for writers to commit to writing every day for 30 days to complete a 50,000 word novel.

I participated a number of times, but never managed to finish the challenge... but I have several friends who did. Regardless, it was a pretty big deal, and some on a awful lot of writers' annual calendars.

The official reason given for the shutdown was "financial difficulties," but as much as anything, the problems were caused by the creeping influence of AI, with some participants very obviously submitting 100% AI generated manuscripts, drawing anger from those who genuinely put in 30 days of human effort.

Seems like such a shame, since NaNoWriMo did provide inspiration and support for thousands of aspiring writers.

The end of NaNoWriMo is just a very visible sign of how AI is affecting the field of writing. As a writer and book editor, I've been very conscious of the fact that my business has been dwindling for several years now... and I am on the way to becoming obsolete, bit by bit.

Meanwhile, here on Steemit there are those who already us AI to create their posts.

How do we feel about that?

AI is more or less inevitable, but when is it useful, and when is it cheating?

Writing — at least to me — is a very human expression of creativity, so what's the point of having AI do it for you?

There are likely some who would argue that AI allows those who are not good writers to write. But is that even writing, if you didn't do it, yourself?

In the context of Steemit, it becomes more complicated because the rewards factor comes into the picture. And I guess there will always be disagreement over whether our purpose here is to write and be creative, or merely to harvest rewards.

No easy answers, I'm afraid.

In the meantime, I remain a bit sad that NaNoWriMo is no more.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead!

How about YOU? Did you ever participate in NaNoWriMo? What is your opinion on writing and using AI? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2025.11.03 01:06 PST
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