Published on Tomato Novel, the short story drew over 5,500 reads in 10 days
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“No matter how bad the AI writing is,” Sheng said, “it does a better job than I would.” Originated from China’s internet forums in the 1990s, web novels are typically serialized stories designed for people to read on their smartphones, featuring adrenaline-pumping plotlines about revenge, time traveling, wuxia…
Key facts
Published on Tomato Novel, the short story drew over 5,500 reads in 10 days
Gordon Sheng, a 32-year-old civil engineer in China, spent two decades reading web novels before using AI to write his own
In 2023, Tencent’s literature arm, China Literature, unveiled an AI tool that could generate character names and turn a rough plotline into a fuller story
China Literature also published more than 17,000 AI-translated stories on its international site WebNovel, which counts the U.S., India, and Brazil as its top markets
Summary
Chinese web novel authors are increasingly using AI tools to bulk-produce and publish serialized stories. The influx of AI-generated fiction has sparked a backlash from readers complaining of poor quality and from writers worried about plagiarism. Major digital publishing platforms are now clamping down on overuse of the technology. Gordon Sheng, a 32-year-old civil engineer in China, spent two decades reading web novels before using AI to write his own. “No matter how bad the AI writing is,” Sheng said, “it does a better job than I would.”