Artificial Intelligence & Green Policy

A Statement by the Editor

On Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models, and the Environment

At Pallina Press, I make a commitment not to use generative artificial intelligence or large language models in any aspect of the work we produce.

In our time, where human dignity is not guaranteed or kept by any reliable law, but revealed time and again to be something forever encroached upon and whittled away, these so-called tools may seem like a heady balm. And isn’t it so pleasant to ask something a question it can answer right away with a fact? Isn’t it a relief to plug a few keywords of a poem into—?

No.

Artificial intelligence – the misnomer of it – is a slow tranquiliser, so we never feel the encroachment of technocrats until we have atrophied our last neuron away. We must safeguard our minds and our morals; our planet, as we know it, cannot stand to bear our capitulation and remain. We see evidence of this daily.

So, all art, covers, and design elements are created by me, Suna, often drawn first by hand and scanned through a pet printer I’ve named Brother Printy. Many vintage images are sourced from books and libraries, scanned and painstakingly restored and vectorised. Some illustration packs have been purchased from graphic designers who are similarly ethically aligned.

Documents are drafted, reviewed, formatted and proofed, over long hours stolen from the asks of ordinary life. All manuscripts will be edited by me alone, bound and printed by me alone. With AI tools now embedded into word processing platforms (e.g. Copilot in Microsoft), it is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid large language models – I do not have them integrated or installed at all. Minor grammar and punctuation suggestions through the use of Microsoft Word’s internal spelling or grammar check may, of course, be accepted. Any change to content or style is performed solely by a human editor mercifully free of artificial input.

I also firmly believe in protecting the copyright of writers and artists. Copyright allows for expression free from fear of intellectual theft. Copyright is essential and must be protected to maintain its integrity, here in the UK and beyond. Using the work of authors and artists without permission, licence, or contractual obligations to train generative artificial intelligence and large language models is theft. It speaks to the lack of consent core to the addled psyche of these people who, again, attack our dignity and humanness without consequence.

Furthermore, the environmental impacts of data centres on our world’s finite and diminishing resources – the sheer amount of water required to cool electrical equipment, waste created by data centres, the obscene methods used to mine the materials needed – aren’t in alignment with the values of our little Press. At Pallina, I aim to minimise our harm on the earth, and daily I investigate the ways we can reduce and offset its carbon impact. Pallina commits to publishing books made of 100% recycled materials where possible.

Naush and I found Pallina Press to support a robust, free, accessible, vibrant literary community, unencumbered by the intellectual, creative, and moral consequences of generative artificial intelligence and large language models.