Nebula Awards tighten rules after AI controversy
The Nebula Awards, established in 1965, are among the most prestigious honors in science fiction and fantasy. The awards are decided by SFWA members, who nominate and vote on works published during the year.
The dispute began in December, when SFWA updated its rules to say that works written entirely by large language models would be ineligible, while authors who used such tools at any point in the writing process would have to disclose that use.
Voters would then decide whether AI involvement affected their support. The change immediately triggered strong criticism from writers, who argued it effectively allowed partially machine written stories to compete with fully human created work.
The SFWA Board of Directors apologized and reversed the decision within days. The rules were rewritten to state that any work written wholly or partially using generative large language model tools is not eligible for the Nebula Awards. Under the revised policy, disclosure of AI use now leads to automatic disqualification.
Other major literary awards are taking a similar direction, even if their rules are phrased differently. The Goldie Awards, the Next Generation Short Story Awards, and New Zealand’s Ockham Book Awards all exclude works created with generative AI, either explicitly or through eligibility guidelines.
Large international prizes such as the Pulitzer and Booker likewise emphasize human authorship, though without detailed AI language, while programs like the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards allow limited AI use only at early, non creative stages (for early brainstorming or outlining).
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that two novels by award-winning writers have been removed from consideration for New Zealand’s top fiction prize after organisers confirmed the books featured covers generated with AI.
