Generative AI fiction:
Where we stand
Despite a clear statement in our submission guidelines and open calls, we’ve seen several submissions across all Fun in the Dark open calls to date that have given us reason to suspect that they have, either in full or in part, been generated using AI technology.
With this in mind, we want to clarify our position on AI-generated work and provide a bit more information on our approach to keeping our publications free of AI.
At Kilter & Rammel Publishing we are wholly committed to publishing written work (fiction or non-fiction) that is written entirely by human creators. All editorial, design and copywriting work in our publications is and will always be done by humans.
We DO NOT accept submissions written, co-written, translated or edited, in whole or in part, using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Sudowrite or similar large language models (LLMs).
Submissions suspected of using generative AI will be rejected immediately.
The use of standard assistive tools, including spell-checkers , dictionary lookups, basic grammar and punctuation tools, screen readers and speech-to-text software used for accessibility are absolutely acceptable.
Authors offered a contract will be required to warrant that their manuscript is entirely their own creation and free of any generative AI content. This is important in regard to our ability as publisher to copyright our publications. AI-generated text falls into the public domain, meaning we cannot legally own, protect or license that material.
How do we know if a submission has been generated using AI?
Unless prompts have been inadvertently left in a manuscript (which we have seen in submissions), we can’t know for sure. But we can make an assessment based on editorial analysis of writing craft and knowledge of what AI-generated fiction looks like, versus human-written work. We’ve been researching and learning about patterns and “tells” in AI-generated writing and reading known AI-generated work to better understand how it’s constructed. We’ll evolve our understanding as AI evolves too – things are changing at a rapid pace, and we’ll work hard to keep up to date with those changes. We’ll keep talking to other publishers and editors to figure out best practices and learn from each other’s experiences – the publishing industry as a whole is having to adapt to the challenge of identifying AI-generated work, and we’re stronger when we work together.
We can’t guarantee that AI-generated work won’t make it into one of our publications someday. We’ll do our very best to prevent that from happening, but we would be naïve to think it couldn’t happen. And we are also aware of possibility that something we publish could be the target of an AI-use allegation, even if that allegation turned out to be spurious. In the event of such an allegation, we would, of course, investigate fully using a variety of methods including in-depth editorial analysis and extensive conversations with the author. We will not use AI detection tools (such as Pangram or ZeroGPT), either as part of an investigation or at any other point in our submission or publication process.
An important note…
The vast majority of submissions we see are clearly the product of a human author’s hard work and passion for what they’re creating. We are dedicated to keeping our publications free of AI-generated fiction, but we’re equally as dedicated to ensuring that the approach we take to doing this DOES NOT create barriers for authors wanting to submit. We want you to be able to concentrate on writing something fabulous for us to read and not on jumping through hoops to prove your authenticity. We want to encourage and support all writers, new and established, from all backgrounds, to send us their work. We promise to judge every submission fairly and use our knowledge and skills as editors to identify any AI-generated pieces that may slip into our submission pile.
If you have any questions relating to our AI policy, email us at kilterandrammel@hotmail.com
Kilter & Rammel publishing 