Renowned mainland Chinese author and Hugo Award winner, Hao Jingfang, recently stated that over half of the content in the last two books of her children’s science fiction series “Galactic Academy” was assisted by AI. This announcement has sparked controversy.
According to the Shenzhen Overseas Chinese News, Hao Jingfang mentioned during a book club event in June that in her latest novel “Galactic Academy,” AI writing accounted for at least half of the content. The publisher’s editors even praised her for her writing this year, and readers also commented that the second volume of “Galactic Academy” was more appealing to children.
Hao Jingfang disclosed that she set up a writing workstation where all the previous drafts, world-building elements, and character profiles of the series were uploaded to serve as a knowledge base for the AI. She then input new story elements like character settings, plotlines, and world-building details, along with providing lengthy instructions for the AI on how to work and adhere to specific guidelines. The AI could then understand the author’s intentions, adopt an appropriate writing style, and follow the prescribed parameters to generate content.
Reported by the Hong Kong Ming Pao on June 17th, Hao Jingfang revealed that in the last two volumes of the newly released “Galactic Academy” series, AI writing contributed to over fifty percent of the content.
Hao Jingfang’s statements have stirred up heated discussions among netizens, triggering debates on originality, literary expression, and the boundaries of creativity. On the Zhihu platform in mainland China, there is strong opposition to AI-generated writing. Some netizens believe that “writers are giving up their pens,” while others view AI writing as a major trend.
Previously, prominent mainland Chinese authors such as Mo Yan and Liu Cixin have expressed their opposition to AI writing. Mo Yan believes that AI-generated works are “second-hand goods,” emphasizing that originality is the most valuable asset of a writer, and without fresh creativity, artificial intelligence will eventually stagnate. Liu Cixin remarked that the honor of this generation lies in all works being authored by humans, and if a reader questions whether a new book was truly written by a human, the implicit trust is shattered.
Public records indicate that Hao Jingfang, born in Tianjin on July 27, 1984, is a female novelist, essayist, and the founder of the Tongsong Academy. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Tsinghua University. In August 2016, Hao Jingfang won the 74th World Science Fiction Hugo Award for her novel “Folding Beijing.” In 2018, she received nominations for the third Chinese Youth Writers Award for Novella and won the Best Novella Award at the “Huacheng” Literary Awards for her work “Longevity Tower.” In December 2021, she was awarded the title of “Author of the Year” by “Nanfeng Window.”
The Hugo Award is an accolade presented annually for the best science fiction and fantasy works. Named after the founder of “Amazing Stories,” Hugo Gernsback, the award was previously known as the “Science Fiction Achievement Award” before 1992. It serves as a highlight of the World Science Fiction Convention and is organized by the World Science Fiction Society.