I don't have a quippy opening today. Today, I'm deeply upset!

For those not in the know, I'm an author. I run a mailing list that also serves as a beta readers email list. I treat my beta readers very well, very well indeed.

I give them total access to new books going to be released. I let them see the raw, Pantser, style bleeding onto the page. This is the highest honor I can give to people that want to support me because they're actively shaping the baby, the art, the creation.

I name them, extensively, in acknowledgements. I give them all promotional materials. I give them bonus scenes and deleted scenes. I do everything I can to make sure they have a good time and aren't just passive readers.

What makes a beta reader different from an editor? They serve very different functions to me.

I view beta readers as the kind of front guard community. Like my community gates if you will. They may be behind the scenes, they are more than important to me. They are my lifeline in so many ways, especially my international beta readers and other marginalized beta readers.

All that to say, now that I've set the stage, take a look at the email below.

My evolving stances on AI are very clear and can be read in these posts. In short, I'm not a fan, but let's jump into their email.

I've redacted name and time zone because, frankly, there's a far more important message than just shaming one reader.

I'll just print the email in full.

**Subject: The beta draft! **

Hey Robert,

Thanks so much for sending over the draft! I was super excited to see it in my inbox and have already started diving in.

So, I have to give you a slightly weird heads-up about my feedback process. You know I love reading your stuff, but my knowledge of all the different Romance tropes is... let's say, not great. I know the big ones, but all the subtle variations can go right over my head.

To help me out, I did something a little unconventional and ran the draft through ChatGPT. It was actually super useful because it helped me understand the tropes you're playing with, so I can give you better feedback on them!

Honestly, it was also a lifesaver for a couple of other reasons. There were a number of scenes I didn't totally get, and I didn't want to ask you what you meant. My brain isn't wired for it. An AI, especially GPT, is kind of scary good at that stuff and can spot inconsistencies I would have sailed right past.

Anyway, I just wanted to be totally transparent about my method! My notes will be a mix of my own gut reactions and some of the more technical things the AI pointed out.

Hope that's cool! I'm really enjoying it so far.

Best,

NAME

Response to email.

So, where to begin?

Aside from the fact I now think this beta reader was just looking to get the task done instead of actually reading the text...

My evolving stances on AI are very clear and can be read in these posts. In short, I'm not a fan. I consider what this beta reader did to be lazy and, moreover, insulting.

I don't have a lot of words, as a reply, other than a few things.

Being a beta reader isn't just about providing transactional feedback. It's supposed to be a conversation. An open discussion. It's like a grassroots editorial team where I can poke and ask questions and get their feelings on things without compromising everything I've worked on.

I can't speak for other authors. Maybe to them, that's all beta readers are, just an editorial buffer, as it were, and maybe the betas just want to get free books and be done with it. That's not what my beta readers are.

By giving you the privilege, and yes, I call it a privilege, I'm trusting you with the most important part in my writers process. The first draft. The one where I, being a Pantser, suddenly change characters shirts half way through a chapter, it's a chance for you to see the rawest, the most vulnerable, the messiest parts of my work and the writing process. You're getting a glimpse into my writing soul, and you're shaping the product before any editor sees it. You're shaping a product that people will eventually get to see. You're also making sure I represent your country accurately because you want to have proper representation. You want to help me get it right. It's a team effort.

My beta readers aren't just a transactional thing. If you're a beta reader for me, you're collaborating with me.

It's a constant relationship built on trust. You're helping me because you want to see me succeed. I'm trusting you with the most crucial part of the writing process, at a stage that's most critical because copyright being what it is, and because I trust you enough to ask you to shape this art with me. I'm trusting you to have a hand in creating the thing that other people will enjoy.

There's so much written about AI, so called AI anyway, that I can't include everything, but it's well known LLM creators never pay the artists they steal from. Because it gets sucked into the training data, eventually, anything in that training data will be regurgitated in one way or another. It's the easiest way to plagiarize someone and claim it as your own work.

This isn't just about copyright. Although, that's a big part of it, the main issue is, by feeding my drafts into any LLM, you've just handed them my entire draft to suck up and eventually spit out again, later. You've told tech companies that it's okay to take my words and pretend to be me.

I don't think it should be okay for people to just give tech companies the freedom to plagiarize from artists that never get respect or income anyway, but to these people, the LLM creators, I'm just an annoying bug that's begging for attention when all these tech companies want to do is make fun of art and artists by creating a plagiarism machine and calling it innovation.

That's not okay. It shouldn't be okay, but I'm already seeing freelance editors using AI to edit books after authors have paid them.

If you're an editor, and you feed works in progress into any LLM, I believe you shouldn't be paid, at all. If you can't be bothered to read my messy text, why should I pay you? You don't deserve any of my money. Besides, I don't want to pay for your AI subscription anyway that's actually a scam because big tech knows how to scam you out of your money.

A draft isn't just a draft to me. It's bleeding onto the page. It's my messy truth that I'm entrusting you with. It's the most unfiltered thing you're going to get from me, and if you can't even be bothered to read it, then I don't want to have you as my beta reader.

This sucks on a grand scale because I know people do this and simply don't tell people. It all ties into fucking hustle culture. We're just supposed to just produce content anyway, right? We should just stop connecting and just buy things, right? That's our whole existence, right?

It sure does seem that way.

I don't know how to combat this. All I can do is do everything I can to cut it out of any art/movie/book/podcast/thing I happen to put out there into the world.

I'll have to employ tricks to ask people if they used an LLM before they see a dime from me, if it's a freelance editor. I don't know how I'm going to fight this when editors at publishing houses start using LLMs to edit work.

The only thing I can do, at this moment, is remain enthusiastic. Remain caring. Treat others with the highest respect by actually reading their work when I do beta reading, developmental editing, or sensitivity reading. That's the only thing I can do, really, is just stick to my own guns, because people stopped caring about others work.

I'll also continue to just find my people. Create with my people. People that care and actually give a damn about something.

I might not be the fastest worker. I know I won't be the fastest reader, but with me, you're going to get the highest respect possible. I'll engage with your work and actually respect you enough to read it.

I said this elsewhere, but if this is happening to beta readers, I don't know how to combat this. Do I actually charge people to be my beta reader? Do I offer more stuff? I don't know how to combat this on a grand scale.

I'll continue to care, though. Caring is actually one of the reasons why I enjoy life and enjoy art because I know what it takes to do the thing.

I'll never buy an AI audiobook. I'll never buy a generated book. That's a waste of money to me. Better artists will be getting my money.

Now, off to read an audiobook by a fellow human.