Re: Worldcon AI scandal

On 5/6/25 7:03 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:

According to
https://seattlein2025.org/2025/04/30/statement-from-worldcon-chair-2/
the upcoming Worldcon has used ChatGPT to vet its program participants.
 I'm encouraged by the fact that there were more than a hundred
responses to that statement, and every one of them was negative.  Some
because ChatGPT is infamous for "hallucinating," i.e. making stuff up
out of thin air.  And some because ChatGPT was programmed using the
works of professional writers, incuding would-be Worldcon program
participants, without their permission.  Several of the commenters
said that they are canceling their membership for this reason.
 I recommend that anyone thinking of attending read that statement and
all of the responses.
 I will not be attending.
 I'm puzzled by the growing divide between the people who run large
cons and fandom in general.

I asked ChatGPT for a 200-word bio of me and let's just say it totally overstates my accomplishments, so if one is using it to vet who is "worthy" of being on a panel, one is barking up the wrong tree.
(At least the current version doesn't claim I've won a Nebula, or had stories in Asimov's, as earlier versions did.)
OTOH, when asked for a bio of Harlan Ellison it says nothing about his episode with Connie Willis, which again says using it for vetting is less than ideal.
--
Evelyn C. Leeper, http://leepers.us/evelyn
"No government--regardless of which party is in power--should
dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit
and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue."
--Alan M. Garber, President of Harvard