Below, I discuss something very important in relation to my content. I ask that you read everything all the way through so you can get a full understanding of where I stand. 

A mark of emotional maturity is owning up to your mistakes and bad decisions. I want to model the behavior I want to see in the world, and to encourage others to do the same, both online and irl. Now that I am almost 20, I seek to take responsibility for what I had done when I was younger.

I have always been against the usage of AI in drawings, and I have never used it to generate or enhance any of my drawings in any way. My stance is firmly anti-generative AI and it always will be. But unfortunately, I cannot say that my work was completely untouched by AI, specifically for my writing.

In 2023, when I was 17 and less informed, I used to use AI chatbots to help me brainstorm ideas. At the time, I still naively thought that there was a way to use AI chatbots in a way that was ethical and didn't hurt others, so I would sometimes speak to it to get inspiration for writing, using the "conversations" as a jumping off point and incorporating some ideas into two specific characters who were created around that time, Hope and Raziel. In fact, the ideas behind those characters were partially sparked as a result from roleplays I partook in with the AI bots. I kept the generative AI writing influence solely to them and not any other character or any other story, but even one character influenced by AI content is too much. 

Once, I even prompted it to generate writing for me that I heavily rewrote and posted, thinking that if it was edited heavily enough, it would somehow become original content by me. In reality I was contributing to the problem, and that was in fact, a form of plagiarism, seeing as I can't know for sure who and where the AI stole from. It was incredibly stupid of me, and a completely avoidable bad decision, looking back. The post is no longer up because I do not agree with it anymore and do not want it to get attention, but I bring this up because I do not want to make it seem like I am hiding things from you. 

I officially stopped using AI chatbots in general midway through 2024 (just before July) for completely different reasons related to mental health and promptly forgot I had done this. My subsequent breaks from GJ was to deal with said mental health issues, among other personal things.

But a sudden realization hit me recently this year, midway through July, where I recalled these memories. I spent a lot of time in private reflecting on this, and I can say it was a big moment of cognitive dissonance, where my beliefs and actions didn't align. Regardless of whether intentions were good or not, actions can still harm others and do make an impact.

Now, in 2025 I'm publicly making it clear that I do not agree with what I had done. I am deeply ashamed to have used generative AI in my writing process and I am truly sorry. To call those 2 stories about those 2 OCs wholly my creation would be a lie. Furthermore, as a creator, I do acknowledge that I make some money from this hobby, and that those impacted posts contributed to that income. I cannot take out every bit of influence that those chatbot conversations inspired, though I wish I could, but I can be clear about my past usage. Furthermore, I will not be using the characters with past AI writing influence here anymore, until I can figure out what to do with them.

As it stands, there is no ethical way to use generative AI in art. I firmly believe that generative AI should not be involved in an activity firmly rooted in human imagination and creativity, whether that's a picture, writing, music, etc. Humans create art and stories, AI can only steal from what humans have made.

I want to make it clear: I have long since stopped and l vow to never use AI in my creative process again. I will continue to prove it to you with my actions, not just my words.

At heart, I am a creator, and I don't mean a GameJolt creator. Creating art and stories is my one true passion in life. If anything, this entire situation has only solidified this truth in my mind. Regardless of what happens next, I could not continue to exist on this platform in good conscience without addressing this. To keep you in the dark would be wrong of me.

All I have typed, you do not need to believe at face value. You can choose to do whatever you think is right after reading this. I understand and I am willing to accept any and all consequences that come about as a result.

If there are any questions or comments you have, I will try my best to answer them. 

Thank you.