Ashley Childress

Posted on Sep 7

Can We Set the Record Straight? AI, Content, and a Bit of Sanity 🙏

#ai #writing #ethics #devrel

🦄 I survived the hackathon, caught up on sleep (mostly), and the AI debate? Still going strong—at least in my head. If my last posts seemed like a soapbox, let’s try a new approach. This isn’t just for the devs or the writers—it’s anyone online trying to build, break, or create something honest.

Background (because the story matters) ✍️

Here’s what gets me: people still treat all AI content the same—whether it’s auto-generated fluff or a post like this, with actual thought, stubbornness, and a few creative detours baked in. I use AI as a tool, but I’m the one steering; it’s got my fingerprints and my voice all over it because I wrote intentional AI instructions.

🙄 At least, unless GPT-5 has decided to rewrite the rules again. Then it takes a bit of wrangling first.

The sad part? Both the creative writing and the fluff get the same knee-jerk reaction. I’m not worried about myself—I know how to handle criticism and don’t mind being upfront. But not everyone’s ready to jump into the ring, and a lot of good AI assisted work gets buried because creators just don’t want to deal with the drama that comes with disclosure.

Hang out in the writers+AI corners of the internet for five minutes and you’ll hear: “Just don’t disclose—why invite the hassle?” That’s not me. I’d rather own it, even if it means the occasional argument.

🥊 Integrity first, sparring match second—and my matches usually come with a grin and a little happy dance.

So let’s walk through what we actually know about AI, what we’re still sorting out, and how we might just learn to disagree without burning the place down before it's sorted. 🔥👩‍🚒

1. Who’s Really at the Table? 🗝️

Platforms, publishers, workplaces, classrooms, and every Discord mod with a badge gets to set their own boundaries. But the thing that always gets me isn’t if they do it, it’s how. When ‘boundaries’ become a one-size-fits-all firewall, that’s where I have a problem.

For example: KoFi’s Discord rules are direct—

“All forms of AI-generated content (eg. art/music/writing/ChatGPT), including links to such content, and discussion thereof is not allowed in this server.”

So, of course, I checked. “Does that mean my stuff is banned?” Turns out, nope. As long as I skip the preview images, we’re golden. Honest, straightforward, no drama. Awesome.

Medium, though? (If you missed the post, catch up here.) They talked about gray areas... then built a giant penalty box for every AI-assisted creator, regardless of intent or craft.

🎵 For me, that’s about as thoughtful as banning all musicians because someone played Wonderwall one too many times at open mic night.

I can’t rewrite the rulebook, but I can refuse to act like these blanket rules don’t erase good, thoughtful people. Those of us who are trying to follow guidelines that don't really exist—and perhaps set a few new ones in the process—don't deserve to have our work lumped together with the slop.

2. AI Content ≠ Equal 🥚

There’s AI content, and then there’s AI content. Some of it is shallow, spammy filler that's cranked out for clicks with zero thought or care. The rest of us? It’s a tool wielded well: organized, rewritten, and given a real voice.

Bad actors weren’t invented along with AI; the existing ones just found a different shortcut.

There are tools out there—ZeroGPT and friends—that claim they’ll catch every AI post. But here’s the thing: I’ve actually tested this. I picked three or four posts at random, ran them through different detectors, and my highest score was 18%.

🦄 It’s not because I’m hiding anything or using some secret hack. It’s the process.

I dictate most posts on the fly. Then I hand it off to the AI—to organize, to reword, sometimes to rewrite completely—but always under my set of rules. And it never, ever ends as a copy-paste job. I’m editing the whole time. There’s always a human—me—in the loop, every single time.

3. Will AI Improve Productivity? 🏃‍♀️

Sometimes. Sometimes Not.

There’s always a promise: AI will make you ten times faster, smarter, better, insert-your-buzzword-here. And maybe it’s true... sometimes. Documentation? Absolutely. I can roll out a draft in seconds—clean, organized, done. Drafting proposals? Don’t even get me started; I’m pretty sure the principals are getting sick of how fast I can toss together a pitch.

😇 If they aren’t yet, give it time because I have more.

But sometimes AI just saves you from the jobs nobody wants. Like, digging through a decade’s worth of legacy code for a spike because it’s finally time to rebuild that app and nobody remembers what it's actually doing or why it was even there to begin with.

🫤 I know I don’t want to do that. You don’t want to do that. Nobody wants to do that. AI doesn't care and is pretty good at it!

Honestly, sometimes it sees connections I might miss. But that doesn’t mean you can skip the whole process and trust whatever it finds. You still have to check. Maybe it saves you three days in the depths of the code mines, but the human review isn’t optional.

Still, not every job should go to the bots, either. That gnarly production bug, that support ticket, the customer call—they all need a human. AI can be a superpower, but it’s not meant to replace the parts of your work that need actual judgment, empathy, or the magic of figuring it out together.

4. AI Is Not Bad (When You Use It Like a Pro) 👨‍🚀

AI isn’t some villain lurking in your workflow. It’s a force multiplier. Used right, it makes your voice sharper and your edits faster—used wrong, it just adds to the noise.

That’s why every single commit I make defines exactly how much AI was involved and my posts are going to start wearing an “AI-Edited” badge. Not because someone told me to. Not as a disclaimer. Because somebody has to be willing to say there's a difference between generated and assisted.

This is one version (and yes—Leonardo made them):

🦄 And if you want to use the badge yourself, or hand it off to a friend? Don’t copy this little screenshot—the full one (plus a couple others) are hanging out in my repo. Help yourself!

5. AI Code Is AI Content (Writers, You Too!) 💾

Here’s my rule: disclosure, plain and simple:

Docs and posts: Add a simple footer like “This was generated with the help of AI tool.”
Code or technical writing: Commit with one of 3 different footers in the commit message:
- Generated-with: AI tool means AI did most or all of the work
- Co-authored-by: AI tool means the content is 50/50
- Assisted-with: AI tool means AI helped some, but not close to half

💡 I started out using an email address in the commits, too — that I thought I was making up—until some random app popped up as a contributor in my repo. Not cool... 😒

This isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about giving credit, setting an example, and actually being transparent with yourself and the future people who end up needing it.

😈 Besides, putting one more stamp on a long list of responsible AI use-cases puts a dent in the endless cycle of AI panic and the-world-is-ending doom speak.

6. And What About AI Images or Music? 🎨

Same rules, different paint. Some artists pour weeks or months into training models on their own art. (I still haven’t managed to train mine and it's been over a month!) Others take the shortcut: punch in a sentence or two, let the AI “enhance” it, and call it done.

❓ Are they copying someone’s style? I dunno—maybe? Should they? I honestly don’t know...

Same applies here as does with writing: artists absolutely have the right to protect their work. But what does that look like, practically? Truth is we don’t really know yet. The laws are behind while the tech is still racing ahead. We’ll catch up. Maybe not soon enough, but eventually, we will.

🦄 I just hope that when we get there, there’s at least one person in the room who actually understands what’s happening—and what it looks like behind the scenes. We absolutely need better laws, but we do not need people throwing broad rules at some conjured image of “AI training.” Whatever it ends up being, honesty and fact need to come first.

7. Is AI “Stealing”? (No, but...) 🧬

This is where I dig in my heels. No, using AI-generated content is not stealing—unless you’re actively pretending someone else’s work is your own or ignoring copyright on purpose. However, “publicly available” isn’t the same as “public domain,” and nobody should lose credit for their work.

Should AI companies pay for certain data? Probably! Should writers and artists get a say? Of course. But “all AI is theft” is just as over-simplified as “all creators are saints.”

🫡 Guess what? Real life and the world around us is messy—AI included. We need smarter laws, better tools, and way less finger-pointing.

UPDATED

Introducing pay per crawl: Enabling content owners to charge AI crawlers for access

Pay per crawl is a new feature to allow content creators to charge AI crawlers for access to their content.

blog.cloudflare.com

This is brilliant! HTTP 402 may come back from the forgotten realms of the internet. I've seen other sites like Credtent.org offer similar setups, as well. Sounds like a solution I can live with... what about you?

8. I Can’t Stay Quiet (and Neither Should You) 🛠️

I can't just sit back and watch the insanity and not throw my two cents in. We’re all still figuring this thing out. Some jumped in headfirst, others are barely dipping a toe. But we won’t get anywhere by shutting down the conversation or tuning each other out—if there’s a better way, we’re gonna have to find it together.

So, did I miss anything? Add your take below—what’s a rule, reality, or tip about AI you wish more people got right? Comment, DM, or write your own story. I’ll keep this list updated.

🙏 And please, when it comes up again, don’t leave yourself (or anyone else) out of the conversation. 🫶

🛡️ This post was AI-edited, human-approved, and finished before the next AI ban drops.

Nuance is mandatory, drama is optional, and the sarcasm is included free of charge.

This Post's ZeroGPT Score 🥳

More out of curiosity than anything else...

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