Once Upon an Algorithm: Ebook Authors’ AI Folk Theories and the Standardization of Creative Practice
Proposal Type
Individual Talk
Location
Algorithms & Imaginaries
Start Date
July 2026
End Date
July 2026
Abstract
In his 2017 book Once Upon an Algorithm, Martin Erwig finds analogies to basic computing principles and algorithms in common fables and fairy tales. But what are the stories we tell about algorithmic tools themselves? Through primary research of self-published ebook authors and the cottage industry that has sprung up to support them, this paper examines how generative and agentic AI tools are incorporated into an already highly digitized literary ecosystem. Drawing on the concept of the algorithmic folk theory, I interrogate how writers develop AI folk theories, informal beliefs about how AI tools work based on user experiences. These folk theories are then circulated around social networks and become community wisdom that shapes how writers use and expect other writers to use algorithmic systems in their creative practices. Among these folk theories are ways to circumvent the accidental incorporation of “AI-isms” into prose, which might reveal the use of AI to readers who are starkly skeptical about this use. Additionally, online workshops and courses share AI folk theories with writers, selling them as best practices. The overall effect of many of these folk theories has therefore been to standardize creative practices to meet perceived market demands. Situating this analysis within broader conversations about cultural labor and authorship, I argue that greater insights into ebook writers’ beliefs about AI reiterate many of the tensions that exist today as a result of the platformization and digitization of genre fiction writing.
Once Upon an Algorithm: Ebook Authors’ AI Folk Theories and the Standardization of Creative Practice
Algorithms & Imaginaries
In his 2017 book Once Upon an Algorithm, Martin Erwig finds analogies to basic computing principles and algorithms in common fables and fairy tales. But what are the stories we tell about algorithmic tools themselves? Through primary research of self-published ebook authors and the cottage industry that has sprung up to support them, this paper examines how generative and agentic AI tools are incorporated into an already highly digitized literary ecosystem. Drawing on the concept of the algorithmic folk theory, I interrogate how writers develop AI folk theories, informal beliefs about how AI tools work based on user experiences. These folk theories are then circulated around social networks and become community wisdom that shapes how writers use and expect other writers to use algorithmic systems in their creative practices. Among these folk theories are ways to circumvent the accidental incorporation of “AI-isms” into prose, which might reveal the use of AI to readers who are starkly skeptical about this use. Additionally, online workshops and courses share AI folk theories with writers, selling them as best practices. The overall effect of many of these folk theories has therefore been to standardize creative practices to meet perceived market demands. Situating this analysis within broader conversations about cultural labor and authorship, I argue that greater insights into ebook writers’ beliefs about AI reiterate many of the tensions that exist today as a result of the platformization and digitization of genre fiction writing.
Bio
Bridget Kies is Associate Professor in the Department of English, Creative Writing, and Film at Oakland University. She is the author of Murder, She Wrote (2025), co-author of Teaching AI in Film and Media Studies (2025), and co-editor of Fandom, the Next Generation (2022). She is currently writing a book about generative and agentic AI’s intersections with romance writing and publishing and frequently gives workshops about AI to authors’ groups.