Announcing the Official Artificial Intelligence Policy for Off Script - The Liberal Dissenter
An Important Update on how I Will Continue to Write and Publish
If you want to subscribe to a newsletter that will never be written with Artificial Intelligence, you have found one. Off Script - The Liberal Dissenter has always been written by a real human being (me) and it will continue to stay that way.1
My AI-prohibition policy is comprehensive and applies to all aspects of articles. Off-Script - The Liberal Dissenter is drafted, edited, and researched solely by human beings. I write my own articles without using AI. Any future guest writers will be required to write their own articles and do so without the use of AI.
I typically edit my own work. Sometimes, a good friend (who is altogether far too kind with his very limited time) finds time to edit my articles. He has assured me that he does not use AI when he reads over and/or edits my work. Moreover, even if it’s painstaking or headache-inducing, I conduct my own research.
I realize that refusing to use AI might put me at a competitive disadvantage with other Substack newsletters. Putting out this newsletter does require a great deal of time, effort, and energy. And I never publish an article if it’s not up to standard. Those who use AI to write for them might be able to publish more often than I can.
However, the price of not using AI is far smaller than the price of using AI. And even though it sounds harsh, there are several good reasons for having this AI policy.
Copyright Concerns. AI apparently isn’t actually writing anything new or original when it produces written work. It’s just engaging in copyright violations. That a Silicon Valley billionaire can develop a super fast way of violating copyrights doesn’t mean that it’s now legal. There’s a reason that Congress has had the power to protect copyrights since 1789 and we ought to respect that.2
Lack of Entertainment Value. Silicon Valley billionaires could probably create robots that mimicked the physical attributes of our greatest athletes. But we don’t allow robots to compete in the Olympics or play in professional sports leagues. It remains a human endeavor. Frankly, who’d want to watch an athletic competition with robots? Similarly, why would anyone want to read machine-written work?
Threat to Independent Thinking. Due to the lack of censorship, Substack has created a platform for numerous independent writers providing news and commentary. Machines jeopardize independence because it’d be easy for those who owned AI software to use AI to put out propaganda and either water down or change an independent writer’s true message.
Loss of Originality. Substack has created a platform for original perspectives you won’t find elsewhere. Writers can offer unorthodox opinions, and write about taboo topics. My hope is that Off-Script - The Liberal Dissenter can offer written work to readers that is original, unique, educational, and entertaining. Machines, no matter how good, simply cannot offer that.
Compromise of the Writing Process. Writing is not a one shot process. Rewrites and relentless self-editing are typical in any writing endeavor - at least if it’s good writing. AI might be able to do small things to assist original writing but it’s doing the small things in the writing process that often leads to the great writing and great editing - things that AI will never be able to truly do.
Other writers are free to do as they please and Substack can make whatever policies it wishes as to whether it allows writers to use AI. But for me and Off-Script - The Liberal Dissenter, articles will always be 100% generated with human intelligence.3
The author of this article is an attorney licensed to practice in the State of California and the District of Columbia. This article and all of the works on this Substack page are statements of the opinions of the author, only, and do not constitute legal advice; they are not intended to be relied upon by any individual or entity in any transaction or other legal matter, past, pending, or future. A paid subscription to this Substack page supports the author’s scholarship and provides access to research that the author has compiled, but does not establish an attorney-client relationship. The author does not accept unsolicited requests for legal advice or representation, and this Substack page is not intended as legal advertising. The opinions expressed on this Substack page reflect the personal views of the author only.
U.S. Const. Art. I, § 8, cl. 8 (“The Congress shall have Power . . . . To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries”).
This article was not generated using AI.