Going forward: our stance on AI
How we are determining which books we will include in RU content and our ask for RU students
As we think about the future of Romancelandia University and our work in supporting and amplifying historical romance books and authors, we want to make very clear our position on the use of generative AI in book cover design, promotion (including social content), and writing. We believe that generative AI is theft, and as such, it has no place in art or in literature. The recent growth in AI use within the historical romance space is concerning to us, and we will not knowingly platform any book or author that utilizes generative AI. This includes the use of AI in cover design, as well as the use of AI in producing social media posts, fancasts, etc., and will exclude the book and author from our monthly new release round-ups, social content, syllabi suggestions, read-alongs, etc.
Trouble Identifying AI?
Determining when AI has been used can be challenging, though it’s not hopeless. We recommend these resources for better identifying AI art when you see it online:
We specifically want to highlight that several of the WikiHow recommendations don’t rely on your eye for image details. Often, you can discover a cover designer has used AI art by checking their hashtags, going to their linktree to check out linked websites where they post art samples, etc. It isn’t always as complicated as it might seem!
That said, it is not a perfect process, and we hope that more publishers, cover designers and authors will make their use of AI explicit - or their stance against such use explicit. It’s a tremendous help to readers and reviewers and helps to build a stronger defense against acceptance of AI within our spaces.
The use of generative AI at Dragonblade
We do want to note that we have made the difficult decision to exclude Dragonblade books from all Romancelandia University content going forward, with author-specific exceptions. In compiling last month’s round-up of new HR releases, we encountered several Dragonblade covers that were clearly using generative AI. We couldn’t find any mention of generative AI for use in cover design on their website - only a note on the submissions page prohibiting its use in writing. To learn more, we reached out to the publisher directly, and received a response from their CEO, Kathryn Le Veque. She’s confirmed for us that Dragonblade’s cover designers may use generative AI in cover creation unless the author has opted out of “AI-assisted art” within their individual contract. This is particularly challenging for us, as the use of AI will vary by author at Dragonblade, and so going forward, we will only include Dragonblade-published books if the author can confirm for us that they have opted out of “AI-assisted art” within their contract. Should Dragonblade’s stance on AI use change, we will gladly reconsider, and look forward to including those authors who have made a proactive decision to opt out.
Our ask for RU students
We hope you’ll join us in taking a firm stance on this issue, and we are always around to help answer questions you may have so that we can all feel more confident about supporting the humans that make these books so great. Help us keep AI out of this beautiful corner of the book internet we hold so dear!
I applaud this! Thank you for being so clear and taking such a firm stance.
Thank you for this!