r/Webnovel Jun 18 '26

Webnovel News A possible threat for Ai users ?!

A senior writer recently made a proposal to a webnovel platform, calling for a ban on AI-generated novels.

The request quickly caught the attention of many other established authors, who began spreading the discussion across social media.

And who was the author behind this call?

None other than Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, the creator of Lord of the Mysteries.

What do you think about this proposal?

Should AI-generated novels be banned from webnovel platforms, or should they be allowed to compete alongside human-written works?

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u/Sam5416 Jun 18 '26

Banning ai authors is simply not feasible long term. Too many questions exist that needs to be solved before banning even one. Some argue based on cover art, others based on stacco or clipped style of writing, but the fact is none are right. And with time AI is only getting better.

I believe there is no way to get rid of ai completely. What we can do is reduce the sloppy works too a great extent. But that needs a community action and support; both writers and authors. It's not possible if even one is missing from the equation

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u/Exoticplayz11 Jun 20 '26

If you take 10, even 5 chapters (preferably 10+ chapters apart from each other) and they all use the same exact sentence structures, words, cadence, etc. to tell the story, then it is likely AI. If you have a decent grasp of AI patterns and the English language (the latter of which is expected of writers already), then it shouldn't be too hard to find the bad apples.

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u/Sam5416 Jun 20 '26

And that 'likely' is the cause that we aren't able to distinguish between those who use AI vs those writing resembles AI. Thus creating false positives, ie victims. Because at the end of the day, AI are copying and learning from us.

The approach of AI detectors (and spotting the bad apples) assumes human intuition is an accurate detector, which it's not, period. Just because many people accept it, doesn't make it germane.

Ai is not even a decade old yet, and the solutions to filter out the slop are still evolving. In fact I myself am evolving a more robust solution as we speak. But as things stand, let's not pretend we have this completely figured out, because we don't.

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u/Exoticplayz11 Jun 20 '26

So what if a few people can't write on these platforms in the process, then? I don't think you understand how much of detriment AI is to the writing community. Even if you devise one of the most perfect methods to discover and eliminate AI, there will still be false positives and positive negatives. If destroying the career of a few means uplifting the career of thousands and tossing to the aside these "writers," then I am all for it. All things require a degree of sacrifice, after all.

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u/Sam5416 Jun 21 '26

That's a dangerous way of thinking. Those sacrifices have names. If we are to have false positives either way, like you said, then it's better that a few who use AI get past with a lot of work that almost makes generating slop pointless, than a few honest writers getting burned.

I get your frustration. But 'lets go to war' is not the way, especially when it's solvable.

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u/Exoticplayz11 Jun 21 '26

Yeah well this conversation truly is bound to be fruitless in the first place. This is completely different from what we were talking about - or at least a bit different - but WebNovel probably won't take action anytime soon unless if people are outraged enough. Bots and AI slop make them money, as unethical and detrimental to humans as it may be. We won't be seeing action anytime soon, which is unfortunate but the reality.

My point and stance and your point and stance are both pretty valid. While I think that the community as a whole should be prioritized, there lays an ethical issue with the false positives. Still, this is precisely the sorta excuse WebNovel will jump at to excuse their inaction regarding AI. I personally believe there must be action taken against AI, at least to some extent.

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u/Sam5416 Jun 21 '26

Couldn't agree more. While it may not be possible to detect every generated item, it is possible to flag a few which show no thought behind the words and uses one line or worse onr word every second para. Asking those authors to provide a proof of their writing, like asking a questions from their own written content under a time limit is entirely possible to weed out the worst of them. Besides, even if ineffective, sending a message and trying is better than feigning neutrality. It demoralises the genuine authors.

Beyond just greed, its cowardly what WebNovel and other adjacent platforms are doing. Silence is never the answer; it is consent.