US furcon Furlandia announced on February 23 that Ursa Major Award-winning furry author Mary E. Lowd was removed as a guest of honour.
The furcon did so because she used artificial intelligence to create her books’ cover art and in view of the ensuing backlash.
Dear Furlandia Community,
Earlier this week we made the difficult decision to remove our Writing Guest of Honor for 2024, Mary E. Lowd. This is a decision we do not make lightly, and is all the more difficult for us as they have been a long time supporter of Furlandia.
So why have we done this? It comes down to their decision to use AI-generated art as a tool in the creation of things such as book covers, the professional backlash that has accompanied it, and the general attitude towards this topic in the fandom.
Undoubtedly the topic of AI-generated art is incredibly divisive and controversial in our fandom at this time, and a lot of people have very strong opinions about it.
We’ve made this decision not to push a particular opinion, but because our goal is to bring people together to celebrate the furry fandom, of which artists are the undeniable backbone.
Continuing with Mary as a [Guest of Honor] would have made the people understandably uncomfortable and that’s not something we want. This is not an easy thing for any convention to have to do and we hope anyone who’s disappointed will understand.
Thank you,
Furlandia Executive Staff
Mary’s statement
On her own webpage, Deep Sky Anchor, Mary released an open letter to the convention chair. But to point out, this statement was released prior to Furlandia’s public statement.
British furry news site Flayrah stated in their report, Mary’s statement may have inspired the frucon to release their own statement on the matter.
In her letter, Mary lists her accomplishments and how her position on artificial intelligence doesn’t take away from that.
So, I’m to understand that you’ve canceled my position because you received complaints about my behavior, not because my behavior is wrong but because you’re responding to public opinion despite having already concluded that my accomplishments are worthy of the position.
You asked me to be your guest of honor, and I would have done a very good job for you. I would have done and been exactly what I promised to be when you asked me. You, however, have flipped entirely from supporting me as a writer to blaming me for other people engaging in a hate campaign against me. I’m extremely disappointed in you, Gene. This behavior is beneath you.
I hope you have a good con. I’ve always enjoyed Furlandia because of the kindness of the actual attendees. However, in my experience, it is always so badly run that I have to wonder if it’s worth the trouble of attending. I was only willing to attend this year because you were running it. I guess that hasn’t counted for as much as I thought it would.
-Mary E. Lowd
Removed from the Furry Writers’ Guild members list
Prior to this announcement, US-based Furry Writers’ Guild had removed Mary as a member. Her profile page still exists as of this writing, however it only has her photo on it. Her name has also been removed from the list of guild members on their membership page.
The Furry Writers’ Guild, according to Wikifur, “is a furry writers’ association with the aim of bringing writers of all levels of skill and ability together to help improve the quality of furry anthropomorphic fiction.”
As of this time there has been no official announcement by the guild of her removal, however the last time she was promoted in their news blurbs was in their November 2023 newsletter.
Original post on Flayrah – Feb 27, 2024
Translation and editing: Pawsry Hamktxchuzhni
作者玛丽洛德用人工智能图像作书封面 美国展 Furlandia 取消其嘉宾资格
2024 年 2 月 23 日，美国兽展 Furlandia 宣布取消获得大熊座奖（Ursa Major Awards）的毛兽作家玛丽-洛德（Mary E. Lowd）的嘉宾资格。
兽展这样做是因为她用人工智能创作了她的书的封面艺术，并考虑到随之而来的反弹。
亲爱的 Furlandia 社区
本周早些时候，我们做出了一个艰难的决定，撤换了 2024 活动的嘉宾玛丽-洛德。这个决定很困难，尤其是他们长期以来一直支持本展。
我们为什么要这样做？归根结底，这是因为他们决定使用人工智能（AI）生成的艺术作品作为创作书籍封面等作品的工具，监狱随之而来的来自专业社区的反弹，和兽圈社区对这一话题的普遍态度。
毋庸置疑，人工智能生成艺术这个话题目前在兽圈中存在着巨大的分歧和争议，很多人对此都有非常强烈的意见。
我们之所以这么决定，并不是为了推动某种特定的观点。我们的目标是让人们聚集在一起，共同庆祝兽圈，而艺术家们是兽圈中不可否认的中坚力量。
继续让玛丽担任（嘉宾）会让人们感到不舒服，这是可以理解的，但这不是我们想要的成果。这对任何兽展来说都不是一件容易的事。我们希望任何感到失望的人都能理解。
谢谢大家、
Furlandia 执行人员
玛丽的声明
玛丽在自己的网页上发表了一封致 Furlandia 主席的公开信。但实际上，这封信是在 Furlandia 的去职信之前发布的。
英国兽圈新闻网 Flayrah 报道中表示，兽展可能是受其启发，就此事发表了自己的声明。
在信中，她列举了自己的成就，以及她对人工智能的立场如何不影响她的成就。
我的理解是，你们取消我的（嘉宾邀请）是因为收到了对我行为的投诉。尽管你们已经认定我的成就配得上这个（荣誉），（兽展行动）不是因为（投诉说）我的行为有错，而是因为你们顺应民意。
你们请我担任嘉宾，我本来可以为你们做得很好。我会完全按照你邀请我时的承诺去做。然而，你却从支持我作为一名作家完全转向因为其他人对我从事仇恨运动而指责我。我对你非常失望，吉恩（Gene）。这种行为有损你的形象。
我希望你的活动举办愉快。我一直很喜欢 Furlandia，因为它的参会者们都很友善。然而，根据我的经验，它总是办得很糟糕，以至于我不得不怀疑它是否值得参加。今年我之所以愿意参加，就是因为有你在领导活动举办。我想这并不像我想象的那么重要。
玛丽-洛德
声明原链接（英语）：https://deepskyanchor.com/open-letter-to-furlandia-2024-chair/
被一家作家协会从其成员列表列除
在此公告发布之前，基于美国的”毛兽作家协会”（Furry Writers‘ Guild）已将玛丽从会员名单中删除。
截至发稿，她的个人主页仍然存在，但上面只有她的照片。她的名字也已从会员页面的公会成员名单中删除。
据 Wikifur 介绍，该协会是兽圈内一家写作家协会，旨在将各种水平和能力的作家聚集在一起，以提高毛兽拟人化小说的质量。
截至目前，”毛兽作家协会”尚未正式宣布玛丽被除名的消息。她在协会的 2023 年 11 月的通讯中最后一次被提及。
原创文章 – Flayrah，2024 年 2 月 27 日
翻译编辑：爪利行乐主翅尼
Global Furry Television 