AI Disclosure
My thoughts on AI and where I’ve used it in my work in the past…
In 2025 it seems more pressing than ever to make a public stance about AI, especially as a self published author and artist. I want to use this space to be firm and clear about my feelings on AI, and to provide transparency about where I have used AI in the past with connection to my writing as both Crystal Cierlak and Laurent Bolt.
I do not condone the use of AI. I do not use AI in any capacity as a writer/publisher/artist. I do not support anyone who utilizes AI to create “art”. I have NEVER used AI to write my books. Every word I have every written from prologue to epilogue has been of my own writing and imagination. My writing is 100% completely original to me. I believe if AI has any place in our life it is somewhere in the sciences, being used for good instead of stealing the intellectual and creative property of artists and writers around the world. (It’ also terrible for the environment and a massive waste of resources).
While I wish I could say I have always taken this stance, that is not the case. In the past I have subscribed to an AI image generation app in order to create images that I would resell on Adobe Stock {some of which is still available in Adobe’s stock catalogue currently and a lot of which was rejected and never utilized). This was a decision made primarily for financial reasons after I lost my main source of income some time ago. I no longer subscribe to the app and I do not use the images which were generated.
Sidebar: I have debated on what to do with them as they exist but I can’t bring myself to delete them. At this point the environmental harm was done when the image was generated, so there is no continued harm there. But I question how it might be perceived if I were to utilize those images in the future.
I have been a subscriber to Adobe Stock since the days when it was Dollar Photo Club, pre-Adobe buyout. As a published writer who makes her own book covers it was an essential tool to have at my disposal, and over the years I have definitely noticed how much AI has infiltrated the catalogue. I feel like I’m pretty decent at detecting when an image is AI but some are, dare I say decent, and I have definitely purchased AI images both knowingly and unknowingly. I am committing myself to not licensing any artwork or imagery that was generated with AI.
That being said I knowingly used AI images for certain book covers in the past and I want to be honest with my readers about it . At the time I am writing this, I am utilizing an AI-generated image as the background to the page about The House of Nightfallen on LaurenBolt.com. This image was generated by me using an image generating app.
Published as Lauren Bolt
(image pending)
Bonds of Golden Fire (The House of Nightfallen) – generative fill was utilized in Adobe Photoshop to create the wings effect. I have since unsubscribed from my Adobe Creative subscription after Adobe changed their terms and conditions regarding AI and owning work created by licensees. They’ve since walked back these assertions, but that was after I paid $100 to cancel my subscription early.
Prophecy of the Priestess (The House of Nightfallen) – this was a licensed image from Adobe Stock which is tagged having been AI-generated
Published as Crystal Cierlak
The Honeymoon (The Bidden Series) – I used an AI image generating app (on my ipad) to create a custom image for the 2024 cover redesign.
Where else have I utilized AI in the past?
I’ve used ChatGPT to rewrite blurbs for maybe half a dozen of my titles in an effort to improve their overall listing and findability in the Kindle Store. I have probably also used ChatGPT to come up with character names but I do not specifically recall using any of them.
I will be utilizing this space to continue expressing my thoughts on AI as they evolve, and to continue being transparent for those who actually care about these things.
This page was first published March 25, 2025. So far there have been no edits.