Unsubscribed
A Critique of A.I. Written Articles and How They Effect the Vocal Community
Today was the day. I finally did it. I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner. But I finally had enough.
What did I do today?
Today I finally unsubscribed from one of the worst accounts I was subscribed to on Vocal. I honestly don’t know why it took me so long. Perhaps it was laziness. Or that I get easily distracted if I have enough tasks, and something is low impact. But here I am now, and I am happy to know I will no longer get their updates.
Why did I unsubscribe? And why does it make me happy?
I unsubscribed because I could see that their account had turned to churning out articles created by artificial intelligence writing apps. To be honest, I’m not even sure a real person was generating any of their content. Don’t get me wrong, I know there has to be a real person somewhere beneath it all because I assume someone is making money off of this account. However, the account also appears to focus on generating content as fast as possible, and on topics that are pulled straight from an SEO list of trending topics.
So, why does unsubscribing from such an account make me happy? Why even write an article about this? What is my critique anyway?
Unsubscribing from this account made me happy because it means that I no longer have my feed filled to the brim with what amounts to the Vocal equivalent of junk mail. This means that now I am more likely to see things created by the authors I follow who take the time to create original and captivating stories. And in turn, it means that I can read, like, and comment on someone’s story that is here because they enjoy writing, and aren’t here just for a quick buck.
So, why even write an article about this?
For those who have been around Vocal and other similar sites, for a while, we know that SEO-driven and A.I. written articles have been a problem for a while. And that is the core of my critique as well. While I do like that Vocal now makes it a requirement for people using A.I. to label their articles as such(if they’re being honest), the problem is now they have left the gate open for anyone wanting to cash in on generating content for content’s sake to do it with their blessing.
Why is that a problem you may ask?
Well, the effect of this is that it pulls readers away from authors who actually put in work to write their articles. And in turn, this can and will drive some of those authors away from the platform. I say this as someone who has been on both sides of that issue.
When I first joined Vocal, it was for a challenge that I hoped to make a considerable amount of money on if I had won. After not winning, or even knowing how I placed, I became disheartened until another challenge came up that I felt I could win. Again, like many, the prize would have been life-changing. Not lottery money life-changing, but it would have gotten me out of the debt I was in at the time. And that would have been enough breathing room for me to live a little easier. Unfortunately I didn’t win, again.
What did change after this challenge though was that I found some of the Vocal Facebook groups. This showed me how other people used the platform. It showed me that not only can you make money here, but that you can write articles that fit that SEO criteria without resorting to gimmicks.
However, with accounts like the one I just unsubscribed from, writing such articles, and getting recognition for those articles will become harder in the future. It doesn't matter if the recognition is in the form of a Top Story and/or the traffic generated from such an article, the motivation to write original content will go down. And this will drive some creators away because this only further dilutes the pool of readers. And it is this pool of readers that some authors rely on to keep them going. Not that we usually make enough here to live off of, but rather, many of those articles generate readership, that in turn helps elevate our works that might not generate that much traffic on their own.
So, what is my hope with this article?
One, I hope this encourages discussion on this topic from the community. I am not as plugged in as many. I don’t jump in the discussion chats on Facebook, do Discord, or any of the other things that I feel take away from more important things(aka actually writing or doing things IRL), but I do hope to hear back from my fellow authors and our readers to see how they feel about such accounts.
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Comments (31)
A billion times yes, yes yes. Thank you, I was wondering if I was going crazy.
I wonder if Vocal even considered your article and its validity before awarding it a TS. I hope they did, and realize how harmful the AI accounts are for the platform. I'm so tired of looking for legitimate stories to read here. Congrats on unfollowing the AI account, I know how empowering that can be.
I too have unsubscribed from someone I felt was Ai No one can bang out that many stories about different genres and possibly be real …..can they? That is what stoped me from doing this earlier. But no more spam for me. Great article
Your piece resonated with me so much that I featured it in my article, 'The Unofficial Vocal Honors.' Your critique was sharp, honest, and exactly the kind of reflection that sticks with you. https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/l-k-s-unofficial-vocal-awards%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
This explains a lot of what I am seeing. I was feeling so inadequate. It takes time to write. I'll be following your lead - thanks for setting a great example.
Your piece resonated with me so much that I featured it in my article, 'The Unofficial Vocal Honors.' Your critique was sharp, honest, and exactly the kind of reflection that sticks with you. https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/l-k-s-unofficial-vocal-awards%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Yay! I do wonder when people are posting content daily, multiple times a day... I would really love to have people who love reading, read my content ✨
Honest creators need to find away to regulate AI. AI can be useful if it is used in the right space, but I don't think this is the right space. When honest creator are forced to compete with AI generated content, it does not put us on an even playing ground.
Enjoyed reading your thoughts, journey, arguments. AI is a fact of life, now embedded in all social media and contributing to the islands of garbage polluting genuine human creativity. Or communication for that matter. In the meantime, we all beg (in different ways) for people to spend time with us and our creative output.
Yeah, AI has no place in writing.
I have been there so many times
The best way for us to fight AI is to keep writing with our own old fashioned brains! 🧠
I hate how AI is being misused. It's a useful tool to use as a soundboard. But it isn't something people should be copying/pasting. It's also good for suggesting lines of code for a programmer like me to work on common problems and other educational resource. But beyond that it's being abused by people who don't want to put in any effort at all.
Excellent post. I never venture forth to read any of the AI created stories or posts. The lure of an actual person - a creative author - is what pulls me in.
This was good to read. I don’t know what the answer to it is, but I thought your description of it as junk mail was apt.
Ugh, agreed. It comes across so monotone and bland, and like you said it’s just lazy!
Anyone can write with AI! But blimey is it bland. I've been approached on Linked In to apply for a job to fine tune AI to make it sound less contrived. But I was repulsed by the suggestion. Sure the computers will work it out on their own but this writer is not going to help them. I'm with Cathy. So boring and I switch off straightaway. Yawn! I wish it was policed better. I wish people would be more honest but they won't. But one good thing is that when I have time to trawl through content on here, which is rarely, I do feel like a treasure hunter or a gold prospector, and I quite like that!
Congrats on Top Story, well deserved. I TOTALLY agree with you. I have become discouraged very recently due to all the AI content - it pushes all the stories below the AI creations that are posted every five minutes. Yes, we have followers who read our non-AI stories but Top Stories and LATEST stories seem to get more reads and comments. I don't want to read AI stories and sometimes it is hard to determine if they are dishonest and don't label them. Lately there is a group (or one person acting as a bunch) making AI comments all over Vocal to get paid as top something on the Leaderboard. Vocal can be a leader in writing platforms and stop this, rather than joining the club of allowing AI just because others are.
Congratulations on your TS.
Great critique! It’s unfortunate how many articles tend to get churned out by AI on various platforms nowadays. I’ve seen it on Medium as well.
I never write using AI. I have read a few AI generated stories on Vocal, however they sound more robotic than authentic and I do get bored with them quickly. I like to read an article in which I can hear the authors authentic voice. Authenticity is important in writing, as that is what draws your readers in because it helps them to get to know you. Use your triggers. Triggers will help you to write better content than AI, and thank you for highlighting this.
I hate to admit it but I never paid that much attention to AI written articles. My bad, too! I joined Vocal to get my name and work out there but now I'm wondering if I'm competing with a bunch of computers. It's sad. AI doesn't belong here. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'm going to be more careful now about what I read.
Oh man this is a subject I despair about... I don't understand why Vocal refuse to take action on this. Instead they are just pushing it down the line for writers to report the submissions ourselves. Grrr... Perhaps a mass cancellation of our Vocal+ will make them take notice? (This is the last piece I wrote on the subject... https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/today-s-latest-stories-or-how-vocal-is-losing-the-ai-war%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E )
Exactly this! It’s everywhere and clogging up everything right now. Congrats on the TS!
Congratulations on top story 🥳👏