Daemons and Ghosts tracks my first attempts at collaborating with AI to produce fiction, and the evolution of the project. Originally intended only to conceptualise the stories, feedback revealed that this research log was potentially more relevant than the fiction itself. Embracing this fact allowed me to explore more personal avenues of thought, and I found myself editing my own words as though ‘I’ was only a character. I became less concerned with how to produce satisfactory fiction using AI, and more with how casual use interfered with the creative process. While experimentation with large language models might send an author down an unexpected path, using AI as though it were a simple tool proved limiting. I considered the implications for education and came to believe that students should be encouraged to experiment and actively engage with chatbots, exposing their problems and limitations. Otherwise, a new generation of writers may emerge who never discover their own creative daemon, but rely on the soulless ghost-voice of AI.
is a first year PhD candidate at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, where she’s exploring interactivity in fiction and producing a collection of speculative short stories. Her research topic was partly inspired by her freelance work, after being commissioned to write RPG adventures and Twine fiction while working in the hobby games industry.
