Unpopular opinion: I'm ready to compete against AI.
I've come to the conclusion that if I'm beaten by AI in competitive writing, then that speaks more about my own writing and skill level than it does about any other factor.
I joined Wattpad to grow as a writer, and I have. I'm thankful for that. I'm also glad that the Ambassadors are realistic in their abilities to monitor their competitive writing events versus making false promises to ban AI entirely. They are not well enough equipped to make a definitive call that would disqualify entries from a contest with pretend prizes. Stickers and accolades are great and all (yes, I want them) but we aren't even talking about money.
Not only that, if the big publishing houses are getting scammed, how is a team of *volunteers* with varying amounts of judging experience expected to stand a chance? If AI writing is humanized enough to come back with a 0% on popular AI detecting sites, that means we have hit a point where we are all competing with AI on here and in the real world, whether we like it or not.
From day one, my journey has been about growth. It's not about worrying about what everyone else is doing - which seems to be worrying about what the Ambs are doing. On a personal level, I'm really tired of hearing how I somehow have an unfair advantage, or that my achievements aren't earned. Just because some long-timers have learned the formula of what works and do well with a deadline, doesn't mean that the Ambassadors, as a collective, have secret knowledge. The judging rubric is basically on all the contest pages. They are very upfront about what will score well. Fighting that does not diminish your writing - it only means you didn't follow the assignment.
So, back to AI. My husband's work is actually demanding the whole company use it for their e-mails. That's the time we live in, and no matter how far into the woods I go, it'll find me there too.
May the bridges I burn light my way as I forge my own path!
