How We Use AI — Dystopian Lens

We get the irony. A site about dystopian fiction writing a page about artificial intelligence feels like the start of a short story that ends badly. But transparency matters, and we know readers deserve to understand how we create what you read here — and how much (or, more accurately, how little) AI is involved in that process.

Let’s get one thing clear: everything you read on Dystopian Lens starts with a human — a person who loves science fiction, types too fast, and probably has too many tabs open. We don’t use AI to write articles, reviews, or essays. Our content comes from lived experience, personal analysis, and an unhealthy number of re-watches, re-reads, and replays.

That said, we do use AI tools lightly to help refine what we write — mostly for things like spelling, formatting, or cleaning up a sentence that wandered into madness at 2 a.m. Think of it like using an autocorrect that knows how to behave. We never let AI generate ideas, opinions, or interpretations. Machines can’t have opinions about whether Snowpiercer is really about class warfare or if The Matrix has aged gracefully. They can summarize; we interpret. That’s the difference.

Sometimes, we’ll use AI-assisted tools for image editing or visual placeholders, especially when we’re illustrating abstract ideas — like a reimagined skyline or a digital landscape inspired by a story. These images are clearly labeled when they appear. We don’t use AI to fabricate real people, mislead readers, or pass generated art off as authentic production stills. The last thing a site about speculative ethics needs is to accidentally contribute to the same problems we critique.

We also use AI behind the scenes in standard tech functions — spam filters, analytics, and SEO optimization. These are industry-standard tools that help us understand what readers engage with (and what they ignore). None of these systems track personal data beyond what’s necessary to keep the site running. We don’t harvest, profile, or sell information. We’re nerds, not data miners.

As a group of science fiction writers and critics, we talk about AI a lot — not just as a tool, but as a theme. We’ve all written about automation anxiety, artificial creativity, and what happens when human meaning gets filtered through machine efficiency. But when it comes to our own work, we’re pretty old-fashioned: words first, thought second, edits third, despair fourth, and AI maybe fifth — when it’s time to catch a typo.

Here’s our actual policy, stripped of the usual corporate vagueness:

1. All essays, reviews, and commentary are written by humans.
2. AI tools are used for grammar, clarity, or formatting — not for ideas or voice.
3. Any AI-generated image is disclosed and used for illustrative purposes only.
4. We don’t use AI for clickbait or automated content creation.
5. We don’t feed reader comments or personal data into AI tools.

We believe that writing about technology means engaging with it critically, not worshiping it. Tools can help, but they can’t replicate human curiosity, empathy, or fear — and those are the emotions that power science fiction. The reason Dystopian Lens exists is because we’re fascinated by where tech meets humanity — and that line only matters if people still cross it by hand.

Each of us approaches AI differently. Dylan’s interested in how filmmakers use machine learning for visual effects and restoration. Kathleen studies how authors grapple with the concept of machine consciousness in fiction. Logan dives into games built with procedural generation and asks what happens when narrative becomes automated. John reads research papers about AI ethics and aerospace tech. Diane explores how students interpret AI through classroom literature — from Asimov’s robots to today’s chatbots. Those are the conversations that shape what we write, not prompts or algorithms.

If AI ever plays a bigger role in how we create, you’ll know. We’ll say so clearly, because honesty is part of our editorial code. If a post is written by us, it says so right at the top — and “us” means real people with opinions, caffeine addictions, and existential dread about the future.

We’re aware that AI has a carbon footprint, too — data centers use enormous amounts of energy. As part of our sustainability commitment, we use green hosting where possible, minimize file sizes, and avoid unnecessary automated tools that increase power consumption. For us, ethical tech includes how it’s used and how it’s powered.

In short: AI helps us polish, not think. The ideas, arguments, and odd tangents come from us — humans who’ve spent way too long wondering whether humanity deserves to survive the fictional futures we keep writing about.

If you’ve got questions about our process, or want to challenge us on whether AI can ever really create art, email [email protected]. Just don’t expect a chatbot to answer — at least, not yet.