Bullet Points 5

By Nathan W. Toronto

Bullet Points captures the complexity, tragedy, and hope of warfare and violence in human and nonhuman society, with reprints and original stories every three months. The April 2024 issue (Volume 5) presents stories on a fantastical theme:

Orig

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nathan W. Toronto
• Release date: Apr 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869318633

Book preview

Bullet Points

Volume 5

Nathan W. Toronto

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Bullet Point Press

This magazine is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, and incidents portrayed in it are the product of the authors’ imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Electronic edition, first impression, April 2024

ISBN 979-8-8693186-3-3

© 2024 Nathan W. Toronto, to the extent specified in publication agreements with authors. First published in 2024. All rights reserved.

The Arabic block noon colophon is a trademark of Bullet Point Press.

Cover design by Nathan W. Toronto. Cover © 2024 Nathan W. Toronto. Cover image by lobard (used under license).

Other editions: ISBN 979-8-9873933-6-9 (paperback) | ISBN 979-8-2242263-4-4 (paperback) | ISBN 979-8-2249422-9-9 (digital) | ASIN B0D1M4CNVT (digital) | ASIN B0D1N5RN4T (paperback)

Nathan W. Toronto asserts the moral right to be identified as the editor of this work. All rights reserved in all media. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the authors and/or the publisher.

For those who fight for freedom, against all odds.

Generative AI and Copyright

Generative artificial intelligence is a technology that really doesn’t seem to be going away. There are serious copyright issues here, because we don’t have a good handle on what images and text generative AI uses to produce its output. Even if we could track AI-generated images and text back to their source, how might we determine appropriate compensation for AI models' use of copyright?

I wanted to see if there was a way to use generative AI responsibly and with transparency, so I tried using Canva’s text-to-image generative AI platform to develop an initial cover image for this volume of Bullet Points. I entered the following prompt: a photo-realistic epic fantasy battle scene between orcs, goblins, and elves with a dragon flying in the far distant background and an elf and an orc fighting in the right foreground and a wizard casting a spell in the left middle distance.

This prompt produced a compelling, high-fantasy image, and it could have worked for the cover. But when I sent it to the volume’s authors for their take, the reviews were mixed. Some said it looked cool, others didn’t respond, and some were very uncomfortable with the idea of using generative AI. I decided that even if only one author was uncomfortable with associating themselves with an AI-generated cover image, I wouldn’t use the technology.

I was curious to see where this AI-generated image might have come from, though, so I did a reverse-image search on Google. A very unscientific eyeball test suggested that the Canva generative AI isn’t pulling from one or a few open internet sources, but of course that’s no guarantee that it’s not stealing artists’ work.

So I went to Adobe stock images to find a non–AI-generated alternative, which was disheartening, since almost all the searches for things like epic fantasy battle or battle between elves and goblins returned mountains of images produced using AI. I read Adobe’s submission guidelines, and they forbid uploads from artists that violate third-party copyright, but there seems to be no mechanism for enforcing that. Artists could also upload an image created using AI but claim that it was not AI-generated. I would never know, nor would Adobe.

This left me wondering how I’m supposed to navigate the use of AI in a responsible and transparent way. The outright rejection of AI probably isn't feasible, if the volume of AI-generated images on Adobe stock is any indication. I could also be getting AI-generated submissions all the time for Bullet Points, but I’d be none the wiser, I suppose. Likewise, I want no part of stealing other people’s work.

Navigating a responsible transition to using generative AI in publishing depends on a reliable third-party test for whether AI has been used (or even better, not used) in a work. Threatening individuals with blacklisting if they use generative AI is like sticking one’s head in the sand—we cannot depend on such individuals to declare truthfully whether they have used AI tools or not. Absent a credible third-party test, such declarations—though noble—are unenforceable. At the same time, if we don’t develop a dependable third-party test for AI use, then copyright law will change in the long run, and it may become unrecognizable. Being a creative could become a cyborg activity, which feels distinctly uncreative.

Generative AI is likely to disrupt our understanding of copyright. This could be good in some ways, but it could also be very bad. Transparent property rights are a bedrock of capitalism and innovation. The quicker we develop a good third-party test for AI use, perhaps using blockchain technology or file metadata scanning, the more enforceable we can make the prohibition of this technology in publishing. Until then, we should expect some uncomfortable conversations about who owns what.

—Nathan W. Toronto, ed.

Contents

1.Say a Prayer to the New God

1. Annika Barranti Klein

2.The Guy With the Shopping Cart

2. Robert Runté

3.A Final Raid

3. Andy Clark

4.Alyona and Ivan

4. Elana Gomel

5.Joenna’s Ax

5. Elaine Isaak

6.The Air Show

6. Rudy Kremberg

7.Operation Jinx

7. Joab Stieglitz

8.Review: Dune: Part Two

8. Nathan W. Toronto

9.Also From Bullet Point Press

Say a Prayer to the New God

Annika Barranti Klein

Annika Barranti Klein lives in a tiny apartment in Los Angeles with her family and a lot of books. She writes stories about ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances (and sometimes vice versa), some of which have been in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Craft Literary, Kaleidotrope, and Weird Horror. The full list, along with where else to find her, is at annikaobscura.com. Say a Prayer to the New God is original to Bullet Points.

Iam a soldier.

During war times, I carry a heavy iron weapon and I defend the old gods. During peace times, I keep the peace. Sometimes keeping the peace looks the same as war.

Gods change. New gods gain favor and old gods are forgotten. Some gods endure. People have worshiped fire for longer than anyone can remember. No one knows when the first woman made fire, only that the god of fire is goodness and warmth and light.

It is peace time when my general calls us to her.

There is a new god, she tells us. I do not believe her at first. Someone would have heard. But she is not a general who would act on uncertain information, so I keep listening. The city people have turned their backs on the god of fire. They worship a new god of light.

Several of my fellow soldiers raise their voices in disgust. Rana raises her torch high and spits on the ground. Worshipping the god of fire is such a part of everyday life that I don’t even notice it most of the time.

Now that the general has our attention, she tells us we have one month to prepare ourselves for battle. We will storm the city and kill the new god of light. We should go home and ready ourselves. For some, that means spending time with their little ones; those who are newly married will likely go home and hope to make a baby. For others, it is time for work they may not return to finish; Rana has been making a book of poetry.

I go fishing.

It’s not the fishing that is important, though I am sure to bring home enough fish to feed my people for as long as possible. They manage when I am gone, but I know they eat better when I am here to provide.

I like fishing because I can be—just be. I can sit quietly for hours with no one talking and only the lake gods for company. I am not looking forward to war. I do not like the city, or being around people, or death. I hope we will not have to kill any people; only the new god.

The time passes quickly. The lake provides many fish. I salt it and preserve it so it will keep for as long as it takes my people to eat it. My people are not family in the strictest sense of the word, but they are the family I have. They are mine. I fight for them.

I spend the last days preparing my gear.

Finally the day arrives. We shoulder our weapons and march toward the city. Once upon a time we rode lions, but those gods went back to the savannah and now we march on foot.

We convene on a hill that night. Below us, the city looks like