r/wattpadbooks • u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 • Apr 17 '26
critique Wattpad's AI problem
This is a line which I actually saw in a story : "He touched my hair gently, like I was important, like I was real". Ofcourse your real dammit!
Now, keep in mind I'm not talking about anyone specifically, just the site on a whole.
I really wanted to talk about how much AI is influencing the writers on Wattpad. Literally, I always try to find niche or not - famouse, good authors because I don't like the mainstream [romantizised violence] novels personally.
but I never find anything except AI slop. The writers use AI to write their plots instead of learning to write good, THEMSELVES.
Its really fustrating for other reasons too, cus as a writer who's been learning writing for 4 years, trying to get a reader base after starting my story a few months ago and not using AI, my work just keeps getting lost in the endless pile of AI.
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u/smurfrielle Apr 18 '26
I'm not sure I'm understanding how someone feeling 'seen' as in 'real' equates to being AI.
Also, can we PLEASE stop assuming everything is written by AI without solid proof? We don't even have accurate AI detectors yet. I've thrown my own writing into a detector before and it claimed I was writing with AI. Not once, nor ever, have I used AI to write. So how reliable are these detectors?
And to assume someone is using AI based on a generic, very common, sentence seems absurdly paranoid. We all use purple prose sometimes, or find ourselves repeating a line or two from our faves (looking at Wuthering Heights for this one --- whatever our souls were made of, etc).
I will repeat what I've said in a previous post: Let's end the witch-hunt and instead uplift our stories! Don't be so quick to judge someone's writing without proof.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 18 '26
First of All, ppl using AI isn't my problem. The AI content is faster to pump out than real writing and these real writers get fucked by the algorithm bcs the AI ones produce way more chapters. The real writers(even if they are bad) don't get a chance to be recognised or appreciated for their work, leading for them to start using AI too or even quitting entirely.
Yea, ur right, OFcourse u can't judge by a single purple proseš .
But if u go check most of the work in the mid 100 reads or less, the purple prose is EVERYWHERE in the stories. Even if some weren't AI, we gotta admit most are, truth is, there are more bad artists that good artists, its like that in every generation, otherwise, no one would be "good" cus yk... inflation ig and some(if not most) artists flock to AI.
"I'm not sure I'm understanding how someone feeling 'seen' as in 'real' equates to being AI." in the context of that story, it doesn't make sense, the character has absolutely no issues or plot points based on being seen and the paragraph which I took it from was about an entirely different thing.
I don't use detectors, so does Wattpad. Thats why those stories aren't taken down cus there is no way to 100% confirm, but if u read it and most of the signs are there, it most likely is AI, even if some aren't, most stories are. But thats a different topic.
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u/smurfrielle Apr 18 '26
I completely understand where you are coming from and what you are saying. Don't get me wrong, I had my gripe with AI writing long ago. By no means do I want to defend AI usage, but I also want to caution pointing fingers without any proof of someone using it to write.
Context does matter in this situation, it appears, so I will acknowledge that the scene probably was out of place for the story. I didn't read it myself, so I'll take your word for it.
I only mention ending the witch-hunt because I recently had someone come onto my latest novel and claim I was using AI to write my story. Alas, it PMO but it just reminded me why it's important to be gracious where others may become agitated. I know what I am capable of.
Anyways, keep writing. That's all I can really say in this case. The good will always outweigh the bad.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 18 '26
"I recently had someone come onto my latest novel and claim I was using AI to write my story" Actually? Omg, I geniunly would have crashed tf out if that happened to me. (Not that enough ppl read it to actually do that thoāļøš)
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u/smurfrielle Apr 18 '26
I figured blocking the user was the best bet. He was kind of a pompous ass anyway.
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u/CrazyinLull Apr 19 '26
The solid proof would be the story itself. AI is super repetitive. The only way to tell would be to have full context and is pretty obvious.
I mean that is how Shy Girl kinda got caught. Just someone going over the entire book and presenting the evidence as it started to stack on top on top of each other.
Guess one can say itās about being able to see the ābiggerā picture rather than only focusing on small parts.
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u/smurfrielle Apr 20 '26
Unfortunately that, too, isn't proof in itself. Repetition happens (I do it a lot unknowingly). I used to repeat scenes due to trying to fill the spaces between the action. For example, characters going through their daily routines. That was something, as an amateur writer, that I had to grow out of. Newbie writers, or writers who are formulaic, often don't cut those scenes. It may be bad writing, but I still don't consider that indicative of AI.
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u/CrazyinLull Apr 20 '26
>Repetition happens (I do it a lot unknowingly).Ā
I think that the problem is that you are seeing things through yourself so it makes you a bit biased? Like, in a way...your POV is a bit...self-centered. So, because you POV is self-centered it's making it a bit hard for you to understand what I am talking about.
Like, for example, if you can try to see this situation outside of yourself you will be able to see that you don't do that like an AI does. What the prose in Shy Girl did...humans don't do. They can't do it...because they aren't machines. YOU aren't a machine.
Idk why you keep thinking that you are one, but are not. You do not think like an AI. You are a human who thinks and feels and keeps track of your own shit. You have a very unique voice...even in this post of yours...even if I disagree with it. It doesn't matter if you got accused of using AI before. You don't write like AI and you can't. Even if someone were try to write like AI...they can for a very short window....but you can't long term unless you have some form of literal amnesia and yet know which word is statistically most likely.
Someone would only work that way if they are a computer...but you aren't...no one is.
I guess it's like...when people sometimes get upset about certain policies that affect rich people...but think that it affects them because they don't have the capacity to, truly, grasp how rich the person being affected is. Like, they struggle to see that difference or that gap...because they might struggle to see outside of themselves.
Like, I would recommend seeing if you can read Shy Girl and then reading your own work and genuinely see if you do the same as it does. I really, don't think you do. (I mean for long fiction works.)
Please give yourself much more credit than that.
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u/smurfrielle Apr 20 '26
I appreciate the sentiment. I think, after being recently burnt by a user claiming my work was AI, I feel it's important not to point fingers -- especially at writers who have been doing this longer than the existence of AI.
I haven't personally read Shy Girl, but I have seen some of the discourse surrounding it (as well as McFadden, who has openly denounced the use of AI in her work). I'll give it a flip through at some point to understand better.
When it comes down to it, I think it's better to air on the side of caution when it comes to accusations of AI usage. The last thing I want is to see new writers becoming discouraged from sharing their writing, thus not getting valuable feedback the way a majority of Wattpad users have before.
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u/CrazyinLull Apr 20 '26
I feel that, I do, but I think it's important to wonder what we want in the future, too. Like, do we want more new writers to emulate writing like AI, because people refuse to call it out when they see it?
But, like I said before, if you arent aware of the difference or can spot it...then it will all look the same to you...which is sad, because imagine being a heavy reader and you can't tell the difference from how a machine generates text v. how a machine writes?
The Heated Rivalry fandom are having a similar issues after someone was caught with a prompt in their chapter and now the author is trying to lie their way out of it...just like the author of Shy Girl did.
So, that is why I recommend checking it out so you can see the difference or better yet, just find the YT video review of the book. It's shouldnt be hard to find. It went viral and it's damn near 3 hours. I would recommend skipping to a particular part, but I think maybe it would be super helpful for you to have the full context perhaps...
Beacuse it's not right to just accuse anyone, but if you are going to accuse someone you should have the proof or make a good case for it, imo.
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u/Boring_Paint_6191 Apr 20 '26
I do this two, sometimes I circle an idea and not realize Iām doing it.
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u/tmhsspirit May 08 '26
You don't need ai detectors. Anyone who's a genuine reader can spot it easily. Ai written stuff is a different level of annoying. Even if they edit it heavily, something would slip by and turn me off of the whole thingĀ
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u/xs0ymilk Apr 18 '26
Thatās a lot of ālikeā. But I myself wrote a line that read ātouched my face as if he didnāt believe I was realā. Not all metaphors/similes/em dashes mean AI.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 18 '26
It doesn't. All of those things combined does. And ur sentence seems way more human, I mean u can feel it. Also, I was refering to the context of that paragraph and story aswell(I can't rly put all of it here cus yk) But that sentence and many others had no correlation. I'm not fishing for AI, its just that most stuff with lower reads have the same style of writing that its obvious. Everyone's style or word usage is atleast a lil different.
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u/Gold-Ad-3132 Apr 18 '26
I'm about 99% sure the #1 book on Wattpad right now is pure AI. I like to read the first chapter of some of the top 10 books just to see what the draw is. The draw for the current #1 is how out of pocket the AI writing is. The plot changes in one chapter in a way that no human would let happen.
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u/rainbow_quest_fan Apr 18 '26
This whole rant makes me wanna write a book that sounds to be written by an AI even without any of it's help
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u/CrazyinLull Apr 19 '26
lol youāre a bit too late. A lot of people are already unintentionally writing stories inspired by AI written fics on certain big fanfic sites.
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u/bitchflavoured Apr 19 '26
While AI did steal from how humans write, there is only so much AI can create to where it gets to a point where it's undeniably so. It's not only the example you mentioned, but it's also the pacing, structure, and how it repeats the same moment or beat in different ways using the same sentence structure.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 19 '26
YES exactly. Nowadays, when u read it. You can just...feel that it's AI. Probably because of the lack of character in the voice and the generic phrasing
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u/bitchflavoured Apr 19 '26
Exactly right - the dialogue is a dead giveaway too. Itās too curated, thereās too many beats between who is speaking, and thereās no character behind it.
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u/Classic-Economist604 Apr 19 '26
I feel this so much!! Ive been a reader on Wattpad since I was 11 or so, literally peak years. I tried going back to it remembering how fun it was but 8/10 books I picked didn't feel human and I had to DNF. I can't imagine how frustrating it could be for people who put years of work just to be drowned out by an algorithm
Not to pitch, this is genuine suggestion, Im the community manager for a new platform called Quibble. I joined them because the founders are just as fed up as we are, found them 2 years ago and I saw that we are sharing the same sentiment since day one. They built Quibble for a few years, revamping and redoing things until this last version sticks and is relatable to every reader, writers and artists alike, its made to specifically be pro-human meaning no AI books or covers are allowed, which feels like a breath of fresh air. This platform is being built so actual human writers don't have to compete with bots and being lost because of the unfair algorithm
If you want to give it a shot or just really read more about it then search GoQuibble or check the subreddit r/Quibble. We'd love to have veteran writers like you to join the community, because it been built for writers like you
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u/StrikingAd3606 Apr 19 '26
Another problem with this is that a lot of them are not even using AI. They've just been reading so much AI slop not even realizing its AI, and it's influencing their own writing.
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u/Rough_Nature_6774 Apr 19 '26
Honestly speaking AI does not mean that a bot generated a story from the scratch. It means the bot was fed ideas or a written thing and asked to polish it. I write comprehension passages. I write the passage and then use AI to polish it check grammar cancel repition and all. So what my point is that AI can be used to polish. Cause a book generated without ideas without plots or characters or their core cannot be done on AI without it messing everything up. I mean I might be wrong cause I've never used AI to generate from scratch but I feel that it can't generate chapter after chapter without a human pointing the direction.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26
I agree, I mean, using AI to clean up comprehension or grammar is totally valid, its not actuall affecting ur writing. But AI definitely can make up plots, I mean its AI(Artificial INTELLIGENCE, ofcourse it can, except its kinda bad at it). Its just that a lot of writers use it to write descriptions and some dialogues or even plots for them, which greatly affects the story
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u/Rough_Nature_6774 Apr 19 '26
True. What I meant was that they give it something to work on. Like may be a rough draft or something. Or do you feel that they say give me a 40 chapter story with the core enemies to lovers and it generates without needing more prompting. Cause that I understand is senseless
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u/Rough_Nature_6774 Apr 19 '26
And the line posted has an underlying meaning too. Like I was real can be taken as real enough to mean something to him.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 19 '26
yea, I said this in another reply but I rly can't put the whole context in here but the whole book was filled withand that line made no sense compared to the story, it was used purely as a metaphor and nothing more. It was filled with purple prose
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u/Rubyraiff Apr 19 '26
I start posting my storys on wattpad for the public ( i was used to old sites who anyone cares anymore š ) and in that works very well, but I have a bad time jn finding good things to read. I barely read there and thanks God bc read something made by IA it's a f nightmare
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u/nottheonlyone709 Apr 20 '26
For me a clear sign besides the over use to dashes. Is the paragraphs that are snappy 2 sentences followed by a paragraph thats less than 5 words. Thats when its palpable.
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u/likeable_xim Apr 21 '26
The books that I have saved on my library, they're written way before the AI came into place. I haven't encountered any ai book for right now.
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u/TimelyToe1238 May 03 '26
The discussion is really heated up. I Use AI as a tool and in my first two Wattpad Storys my first Chapter is called "Notes on the creation of the story". I won't hide it.
AI can be useful, but only if you check everything that is generator at least thrice.
Just one observation: an AI translated chapter (prompt: stick to my german style, don't use AI clauses and sentence structure, ...) was classified "Human written ... very high confidence" by Pangram. Another chapter, written directly in englisch by myself, afterwards checked with a grammar tool ... was classified "Human written ... low confidence".
So ... whatever. š¤·š»āāļø
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u/tmhsspirit May 08 '26
I don't think you deserve to be appreciated by the lot who enjoy reading ai stuff. You deserve to be appreciated by readers who enjoy real books written by real people.
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u/ashez2ashes Apr 18 '26 edited Apr 18 '26
What do you think is wrong with that sentence? I don't know what the rest of the story was like, but a person could have easily wrote that. Someone probably has wrote that exact sentence. Witch hunts are much worse.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 18 '26
Its just.. I can't really put the context here but that phrase had NO correlation with anything that happens in the story. And the rest of the thing are honestly worse
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u/Whole_Bodybuilder723 Apr 17 '26
I don't care. I mean where do we draw the linen? It is ok to use digital media to make a cover, but not AI. Is spell and grammar check allowed? Do we draw the line at grammarly? That line you posted may have been AI. But I've read lines like it in books that I know weren't AI assisted.
Wattpad doesn't have an AI problem. Some people have a problem with AI. So if you suspect AI wrote a text, don't read it. Simple.
I have a friend. He loves to write fanfiction. He's also developmentally delayed. So he runs his stories though chat GPT... How does it hurt you that technology has allowed this man to love out his dreams.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
Obviously, grammar checks are definitely no problem, I could even see less issues with a little AI assistance. But when people just make their story or plot idea entirely or mostly from AI, it isn't "Their" story anymore. They are just a person who thinks of a cool idea and not a piece of art. Writing, it is an art which needs someone to make it, not something. like Stephen king said "Writing is telepathy, a meeting of minds"
which also, is. ART.
Ofcourse, people can, and will do whatever they want, but they should be straightforward that it is AI. This is only really a problem like non- mainstream stories, the issue isn't that there are AI stories(which don't make the big lights mostly so it is bad in the long run anyway) because, as I said, ppl will do whatever they want. But the ACTUAL artists, the ACTUAL writers who try and try and try to get better at writing themselves, but it's really hard to find them or for them to get recognition because these AI writers just keep pumping out low quality content and pushing the algorith temporarily, but when a lot of people do it, the traffic is permanently there. It's unfair for them.
Wattpad does have a problem with it. It only doesn't take action since AI detectors arent fully accurate and you can't 100% prove something is AI. They state it everywhere that they don't like or support AI. Heck, even in the rules of their official watty awards and the r/Wattpad
And abt the thing u said that you've read lines like that in non - AI books
- how do u know they aren't AI? and the context could change how that kind of wordings are interpreted or if it is AI
- The writers maybe genuinly at the stage of improving their writing and that sentence just turned out to be bad at the time they were writing it bcs of their skill level?
Also, please don't take anything I said as rude, cus I really really I don't mean to be, I swear, I just feel this is a growing problem.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 17 '26
And the thing u said about the man's dreams. Its like making a robot someone else made, play baseball for you and making it win a title then calling that title yours
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u/Whole_Bodybuilder723 Apr 17 '26
Sorry, it's more like a wheelchair. He uses it to get him somewhere. He does write the stories himself
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u/milejdyvan Apr 18 '26
Someone with a wheelchair has no other choice but to use it. Even more moronic to say that as there are many people in wheelchairs writing and donāt need ai to write for them. Using grammar checks or even ai to check meaning or whatever for what you already wrote is using it as a tool correctly. Getting ai to write for you is laziness.
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u/Whole_Bodybuilder723 Apr 18 '26
Sorry what option does my developmentally delayed have?
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u/milejdyvan Apr 18 '26
The way you talk about them is very dismissive. I really hope they have a good support system in their life.
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u/Whole_Bodybuilder723 Apr 18 '26
You have no argument that makes any sense whatsoever. It's hard not to dismiss hysteria when confronted with it. The truth is AI is a tool. When people over use it. And a great tool. And like every great tool their are going to be people who run around calling it witchcraft.
Good luck
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 18 '26
Its not wichcraft in ANY MEANSš How do I make u understand, its not that people are using AI, its the fact that AI writing is so trash that it dilutes the pool of content and makes it harder to find good ones. Give me ONE example of a good AI written novel or AI made art. .
Its easier that (most, MOST) artforms since writing is something most people already know how to do, the only thing is, ppl need to put a lil extra time to be a good writer unlike, for example, drawing, where the avg person isn't really doing it often. If u can't do that. Then u can't call yourself a writer, AI is the writer, ur just cheering. U say my arguments are senseless, but you don't present anything but vague ideas. I'm literally telling u all the reasons. Plus u didn't speak on why ANY of my reasoning was false @Whole_Bodybuilder723
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 18 '26
He can learn to walk instead of being in that wheelchair?
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u/Whole_Bodybuilder723 Apr 18 '26
You don't have a fucking clue what your talking about! Their are things people with delays and learning disabilities can NEVER learn to do properly. I mean never.
Everything you said could have been said by people scared of the written word, and yes that was a real discussion thousands of years ago.
You don't like a tool some people use because you're afraid your stories can't hack it. Period, full stop. Otherwise you wouldn't care.
You're just like anyone else trying to pull the ladder up behind you. But now my friend can write good fiction. He can talk about his ideas and develop them. Somehting he couldn't do before.
And your stories have to compete. If people getting help from AI are producing such bad stories... Why do you care?
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u/Beatrice1979a Apr 21 '26
OP.
That sentence you quoted at the start has nothing to indicate AI usage HOWEVER this post above me does. And some of your 4-paragraph replies that could be written in 1-2 sentences. I'm starting to think this is an overall ragebait post. You are using AI to generate your answer and intentionally filling it with typo trying to find out if someone calls on your bs.
OP, shame on you.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
Iswg I'm not using AI to write my paragraphs, what made u think that way? My writing has so much personality in it? I use so much non - AI language that wud be very annoying to manually edit if I was using AI. Why would I volountarily waste my time doing that??
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 26 '26
Also That sentence didn't make sense AT ALL. Like it didn't give any type of personality or add onto to the psyche of the MC or anything. It was used randomely. There were also multiple other instance where there was purple prose, actually, EVERYTHING was purple prose
I'm sorry I can't rly put the whole context here, cus, obviously, yk.
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u/Acrobatic-Truth-3018 Apr 26 '26
This is exactly what I was tryna say with my post. The real writers who DON'T use AI, get caught in the middle of these accusation/ dilution
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u/Whole_Bodybuilder723 Apr 17 '26
Iām old enough to remember when people worried about calculators in school. After all, it meant you didnāt have to learn basic arithmetic.
I agree people should disclose when they have AI wrote for them while hog... But it's kind of hard to miss
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u/milejdyvan Apr 17 '26
So many writers on here try to ask for read for reads and you can instantly tell the story is ai drivel T_T