Sci-fi magazine bans hundreds of AI chatbot authors

OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public in November. (AFP/File)

• AI content creation tools have been raising concerns about plagiarism and cheating in exams

PARIS: An American science fiction magazine said it had stopped accepting submissions and banned hundreds of authors after being deluged with stories written by artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.
The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, which can churn out text in natural-sounding language in a variety of styles, has sparked concern in many sectors, particularly with regard to plagiarism and cheating in exams.
ChatGPT was released to the public in November by US firm OpenAI and has led to a multibillion-dollar deal with Microsoft and the promise of revolutionizing the internet search market.
But Neil Clarke, editor of the Clarksworld sci-fi and fantasy magazine, told his followers on Twitter on Tuesday that he had banned more than 500 authors in February alone over "machine-generated submissions".
Before the advent of ChatGPT, he said, his magazine issued a handful of bans each month, mostly for plagiarism.
"Our guidelines already state that we don't want 'AI' written or assisted works," he wrote on Twitter.
"They don't care. A checkbox on a form won't stop them. They just lie."
He blamed the rise of influencers selling the idea of profitable "side hustles" using ChatGPT and conceded that his magazine did not yet have a solution to the problem.