I don’t know how many people are getting this "invitation" to "add to stories" from LinkedIn.
If you do see it, let me save you a click. It is an "invitation" to "collaborate" with AI written articles. No contract is presented. No payment — except for a site badge — is ever mentioned.
You may recognize these as pretty horrible terms for articles that LinkedIn is using for their primary content.
It’s also a pretty not-great thing to be rolling out during the WGA strike.
My open letter to LinkedIn is below.
Dear LinkedIn:
I am not interested in "collaborating" with your AI for content solely for use on your site.
Not least because there is no contract — merely a page on in your help section. The sole compensation seems to be gaining a bit of site "flair" with a "community top voice" badge.
Or in other words, for the exposure.
Some years ago, I created a "Writers To Writers" quick tip sheet of advice from working authors, editors, and publishers to those looking to enter into publishing. There’s a link to it in the header of my blog.
The very first tip is "Exposure is a word pertaining to nearly dying of cold, not a useful way to make a living as a writer."
The fact that you need living humans to "collaborate" with your AI written articles illustrates something that is obvious to those of us who do write: Generative AI can slap together an article, or story, or script, or whatever. Whether or not it can do so well is a completely different question.
While that realization that writers — good writers — are not easily replaceable with generative AI sinks in, please also remember that paying people for their effort is kind of how business works.
You may recognize that the role of AI in content creation and creators being paid for their work are both concerns with the ongoing WGA strike.
If you did not intend to give the impression that LinkedIn does not value creators, consider changing some of the aspects of this program that I’ve pointed out.
And if you did intend to give the impression that content creators are considered disposable by LinkedIn… well, just keep doing what you’re doing.
Featured Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash