Happy July, everyone!

This month, I’m going to take a step back from all things Keddie to acknowledge our nation’s 250^th birthday, and to gripe not about my tardy edits but about a pet peeve of mine.

To begin, the trip to visit the family of the victims of the Keddie Murders. It accomplished its goals and more. Soundbites. Photos. Some new revelations. And even a couple of heartfelt observations that gave my researcher and I a gut punch. Our weekend sojourn was, in a word, successful.

That’s Keddie for the month.

For July, it’s a milestone birthday for America. All over social media, people are clickbaiting questions asking, “Were you alive on the 200^th anniversary?” And it made me realize, yes! I was! I was ten years old and with my mother and maternal grandparents in Disneyland. I believe my cousins were there as well. It was the second of two times I visited the Magic Kingdom.

I remember very little about that trip. I recall loving the attraction called “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” I don’t know why I was so keen on it, but it was a highlight for me. That, of course, along with the Country Bears Jamboree (music, duh) and seeing underwater mermaids. I also remember the big 200^th anniversary parade. It was spectacular. Not to be a downer, but I also remember having spaghetti one night for dinner and throwing up in the parking lot all over my brand new, thigh-high, white vinyl go-go boots.

That clickbait question on social media prompted more than just the memory of Disneyland back in 1976, though. It made me realize I’m old enough to have been watching a stunning fireworks display in Anaheim, California the last time America celebrated a milestone birthday. Was I alive? Yes. And old enough for it to form a memory. I even have the chalk or pastel drawing someone did of me. It’s framed and hanging in my house amongst the various paintings done by my great-grandfather, my grandfather, and my grandmother.

So why the inclusion of Disneyland in my blog? It’s more a comment about my age, and may (or not?) explain some things about me. Specifically, that, while I’m not opposed to “progress” or technology or making life easier, I am opposed to theft. Non sequitur? Not really. Hear me out.

Those who know me know what’s next. And they’re right. This month’s blog is mostly about my full-throated opposition to AI.

I would not argue the fact that there are “pros” to the use of AI. However, at its heart, it’s still exactly what it’s called: Artificial Intelligence. Artificial. As in, synthetic. Not produced organically but rather an imitation of something someone else already created. A sham.

No matter what “good” people can argue to justify the use of AI, it exists solely as a product of “scraping” already existing material. It merely spits out a form of that which it has taken in. And while it might be convenient not to have to read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica to gain a basic understanding of any number of topics, there is also real danger when it comes to replacing human workers. Or stealing their work.

My cover designer was ripped off a few months ago. One of his clients took some of his original art, used AI to change certain elements, then was using or selling it to others. Warren, my designer, is very clear to mark his work with a “no AI used” label. Not only is it a matter of integrity, it is a matter of law. The whole debacle nearly made him quit the industry. And while I was panicked at the thought, I get it. Why take all the time to create something unique, only to have it stolen by someone who can, in a few clicks, take what you made, tweak it a bit, then sell it for a profit? Money, baby. It changes everything.

Similarly, at the end of June 2026, a writer took to X to expose that one of his books had been plagiarized and uploaded to Amazon by some “author” who had clearly used AI to scrape, reword, and steal his intellectual property. I don’t even know this author (the real one). But the thief managed to get through Amazon’s token questions (“is any of this work the result of AI” or something to that effect) and get approved for publication. He’s fighting it as this post is being written. And many in our writers’ community are sounding the alarm. We are offering whatever assistance we can give to fight this act of plagiarism that used AI to commit the fraud.

We already have a whack-a-mole issue with book pirates, who obtain digital copies of our books and upload them to pirate sites for people to download for free. Many people on social media who claim to be avid readers brag about downloading free books from these sites. But they’re not free; they’re stolen. And while I struggle to get my readers to leave a review of my books (plenty comment to me, which is great, but it doesn’t help my business), I’ve found my books on these sites, and they’ve shown tens of thousands of downloads. (Wow! I must be doing well.) Chasing these sites and getting our books pulled down is extremely time-consuming. Plus, it never ends. And now, on top of everything else, we have AI to contend with.

The Writers Guild of America, thankfully, recognizes the potentially catastrophic problem with AI use. Today, we see ads boasting that you can “be a writer without doing all the hard work! We’ll show you how to ‘write’ a book a month!” Other than the Guild and most real writers, people don’t seem to grasp that someone writing an AI book isn’t a writer at all. They’re hacks and thieves. Thankfully, the Guild now has designated AI as a “tool” and not a human writer. It’s a start. They’re championing the fight as best they can, I suppose.

AI is everywhere in artistic mediums. Even in music, where it’s now charting on the Billboard Top 100.

One issue is apathy, which shocks me. I’ve spoken online and out and about to people about this topic. My go-to statement about AI is, “AI is the devil.” What I’ve encountered is a majority of people dismissing the issue because they deem art—fine art, literature, music, whatever—as superfluous.

Their argument is that the things that really matter in life are the ability for a society to exist and grow. We need plumbers. We need electricians. Carpenters. Laborers. Those things are necessary. Singers and writers and painters could disappear from the universe and they’d not be missed.

I hear it all the time. But is this true?

While I agree that air, water, food, shelter, etc. are literally necessary for survival, it begs the question: do we exist solely to “survive?” To work? If true, it’s a sad place we’ve arrived at. I mean, what are we existing for? Do people in their off times visit construction sites and marvel at nails and two-by-fours? Do folks take a vacation to learn about circuitry or pipefitting?

If art is so inconsequential to life, then why are there so many museums? Why does nearly every home have at least one television in it? Why are there so many libraries? Why do we have the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame? Movie theaters? Concert halls? Sports arenas? All those things exist to provide entertainment.

We may need the essentials mentioned above to sustain life. But we crave art, in its many forms, to feel it. Even though we’re told it doesn’t matter a slab of beef. Few today care if AI takes, say, the artwork my ancestors created, “scrapes it,” and spits it out to someone who can’t create original work on their own. And then they profit off it a century or more later, and call themselves artists.

They are not artists. They’re thieves. They use what already exists and pretend they came up with it. No training. No skill. No hard work. No dues paid. And while artists are dismissed as unessential for life’s existence, the product of our minds and hard work are pillaged and reproduced.

Hopefully, champions such as the Writers Guild of America will continue to push for legislation that protects original artists (in their case, authors) from theft. Hopefully, each artistic medium will attract its own Don Henley (of the Eagles—a known music copyright activist) and we’ll be able to exorcise this devil before it ruins authentic artistic expression.

My plea to those who read this is simple. Please reject art theft. In all forms. Participating in it is literally running with the devil.

Catch you all next month.

TTFN