So, Worldcon 2025 is making headlines, but not the kind you’d put on the back of a Hugo-winning novel. The organizing committee decided to use ChatGPT to help vet over 1,300 panelist submissions. They intended to streamline the flood of applications, maybe catch a few red flags, keep things moving.
Except it’s not going well.
The committee asked ChatGPT to pull up publicly available info on applicants, essentially using it like a souped-up search engine. But SFWA members have been running those same prompts on themselves, and the results? Pretty bonkers. We’re talking misattributions, missing publications, and some outright fabrications. Imagine finding out that ChatGPT thinks you wrote a series of cozy mysteries set in Atlantis when, in reality, you pen sci-fi space operas.
Now, some big-name authors are pulling out, including Yoon Ha Lee, and a few Hugo organizers have also stepped away in protest. Worldcon is scrambling to backtrack, issuing apologies and vowing not to use AI tools for this kind of thing in the future. But the damage may already be done.
And it’s not just Worldcon. AI is starting to creep into every corner of the literary world — from reviewing pitches to generating marketing copy to (yep) writing entire books. We’re all feeling the tremors of what that means for creators, publishers, and readers.
So, here’s what I’m curious about:
- Would you attend a panel curated with AI assistance, knowing that some of the picks might be based on questionable info?
- Does it matter to you if AI is used to organize a con or vet participants, as long as the final say is still human?
- And the big one: If you knew a book was written with AI, would you read it?
Sound off in the comments. I’m genuinely interested in what you think — because, like it or not, this whole AI-in-writing thing is just getting started.
Cameron Cooper
SRP Author
Check Cam’s books here on Stories Rule Press.
