New Writing Contest to Pit Human Creativity Against AI

The AI-powered submissions management platform Storywise has launched “Outwrite the Machine,” a writing competition that aims to “prove human creativity reigns supreme” over LLM-generated stories, per an announcement. Submissions are currently open to English-language authors of fiction, memoir, and YA books worldwide.

Submissions, which are open from August 19 to September 9, should include the first chapter of an unpublished book manuscript, which will be compared to a chapter generated by Storywise’s “AI editor” Adrian. A panel of human experts will then score both manuscripts on the basis of voice, imagination, and emotional depth—qualities that “no algorithm can replicate,” Storywise said. The writer who beats Adrian by the widest margin will receive a publishing contract and a cash prize of $500.

Storywise’s platform, which launched in 2023, integrates with submissions queues to analyze incoming manuscripts, providing “data points” on genre, marketibility, and plot structure. “AI will play a pivotal role in our industry. But captivating a reader will always be about human insight, emotion, and originality,” said Jeremy Esekow, chief product officer of Storywise, in a statement.