I just received a note that Narrative magazine’s Spring 2026 Story Contest is accepting entries. Narrative winners and finalists have won Pulitzer and Pushcart Prizes, as well as placement in high-profile anthologies. In addition to publishing emerging writers, the magazine says it reaches a worldwide audience of 325,000 readers. It’s good market for literary writers.
Unless you’re using artificial intelligence, or AI. Narrative’s contest guidelines end with a single sentence: “We do not accept work that includes machine-generated text.”
For authors and other creatives tempted to enhance their work with AI, the writing is on the wall: Using Large Language Models (LLM) like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, CoPilot and others to research and critique your work is acceptable. Using those services to generate content is not. (We’ll talk about the use of AI in photography in a bit.)
Commercial publishing
Where do commercial publishing houses stand on the use of AI??
According to Microsoft’s CoPilot, Penguin Random House UK advises writers that AI is not a substitute for human imagination and that AI tools may be used selectively but with caution. PRH, which only accepts manuscripts through literary agents, offers no specific advice for authors on the use of LLMs on either its U.S. or UK sites.
At business and academic publisher Wiley, authors may only use AI technology as a companion to their writing process, not a replacement. “As always, authors must take full responsibility for the accuracy of all content, and verify that all claims, citations, references, and analyses are aligned with their expertise and research,” Wiley states on the AI guidelines page of its website.
Authors must also document their use of AI tools and “disclose the use of AI technologies when submitting their material to a Wiley-published journal.”
The Authors Guild offers a model clause for contracts between authors and publishers that discourages the use of machine-generated text in a work. “Author shall not be required to use generative AI or to work from AI-generated text. Author shall disclose to Publisher if any AI-generated text is included in the submitted manuscript, and may not include more than [a de minimis/5%] AI-generated text.”
Self-publishing
For independently published writers, Amazon—the world’s largest platform for self-published books—requires a disclosure for those who used AI to create their work. The company’s content guidelines for books released through its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) arm offers this warning:
“We require you to inform us of AI-generated content (text, images, or translations) when you publish a new book or make edits to and republish an existing book through KDP. AI-generated images include cover and interior images and artwork. You are not required to disclose AI-assisted content. We distinguish between AI-generated and AI-assisted content as follows:
“AI-generated: We define AI-generated content as text, images, or translations created by an AI-based tool. If you used an AI-based tool to create the actual content (whether text, images, or translations), it is considered “AI-generated,” even if you applied substantial edits afterwards.
“AI-assisted: If you created the content yourself, and used AI-based tools to edit, refine, error-check, or otherwise improve that content (whether text or images), then it is considered “AI-assisted” and not “AI-generated.” Similarly, if you used an AI-based tool to brainstorm and generate ideas, but ultimately created the text or images yourself, this is also considered “AI-assisted” and not “AI-generated.” It is not necessary to inform us of the use of such tools or processes.”
Why does that matter? Because, according to wordsrated.com, Amazon releases more than 1.4 million self‑published books each year.
Photography
Photographers are also grappling with the use of AI, with organizations disqualifying from competition images that use generative AI. Contests run by the Florida Camera Club Council (FCCC) allow the use of AI to remove noise (what film photographers call grain) and other distractions from images but forbid the machine generation of images.
FCCC’s contest rules are simple: if you add something to an image you did not photograph, that photograph may not quality for competition.
“Every part of an image must be the maker’s own work,” FCCC says on its website. “Artificial Intelligence or Al cannot be used to add elements to an image that were not taken by the maker. Al functions such as denoising, healing, sharpening, expanding canvas are allowed, as long as Al generated objects, people, or other elements are not introduced into the image. Makers may be asked to submit original images prior to approval.”
Why does this matter? Because people expect an artform that began its life documenting reality to provide them with visual truth, and organizations like FCCC, which screen entries from some 50 independent camera clubs throughout the state, have become the gatekeepers of that tradition. FCCC is not alone. There are thousands of photography clubs operating in the United States, according to DuckDuckGo’s search assistant. Microsoft’s CoPilot puts the number at 700.
Moral hazard
The same ethical considerations apply to writing. Using AI tools for research is OK, as long as writers follow the traditional rules of authorship and disclose the source. Using those tools to create words and images from the ether is also acceptable, as long as we disclose that fact, although it does create a moral hazard where corporations take risks for which others—writers, photographers and other creatives whose work is appropriated to train these applications—pay the price.
We’ll let the bots have the next-to-last word.
“The benefits of AI tools for creatives are surprisingly broad and often transformative,” according to ChatGPT (prompt: what are the benefits to creatives of using AI tools?). “AI can offer prompts, variations, or even complete drafts that help kickstart human creativity. While AI is powerful, it’s not a replacement for human creativity.”
As long as we’re transparent.
Open circuit: no generative AI used to make this photo I took of a circuit board.