In another year, will there be another Hugo Award controversy? This may be what fans of science fiction TV and related media are thinking. Today there is news that the three leaders from Worldcon 2025, who are about to introduce Hugo’s iteration of the upcoming conference, have resigned. At least, this year, the awards themselves (voted by members of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS)) do not seem to be directly involved in the dust.
In a post about the signing of the Blues by Hugo Chief Executive Nicholas Whyte, Hugo Deputy Chief Executive Esther MacCallum-Stewart and Cassidy, the World Science Fiction Society director, the three announced that they would resign from the Seattle event in August. The statement read in part, “We want to reiterate that there is no use of LLM or generation of AI during any stage of the Hugo Awards process.
However, many in the community are well aware of what is going on. A quick journey to visit blog file 770 will make you grow rapidly, and visiting Seattle Worldcon 2025’s own website will also share an article on April 30 that articulates exactly what AI plays in the upcoming event.
“We have received questions about Seattle’s use of AI tools during the review of program participants,” wrote Kathy Bond, Seattle WorldCon 2025 Chairman. “In the interest of transparency, we will explain the process of how we are using a Large Language Model (LLM). We understand that members of our community have very reasonable concerns and strong opinions about using LLMs. Please be assured that no data other than a proposed panelist’s name has been put into the LLM script that was used. Let’s repeat that point: no data other than a proposed panelist’s name has been Put into the LLM script. The sole purpose of using the LLM will simplify the online search process for planning participant reviews, rather than not accepting it seriously, but rather the output was carefully analyzed by multiple members of our team to be precise.
Bond’s post goes on to explain: “Using this process saves hundreds of hours of volunteer time, which we think will lead to a more accurate review after checking any claimed negative results. We are not taking advantage of LLM in any other aspect of the program or practice.”
The last line is Whyte, Maccallum-Stewart and Cassidy’s resignation positions today also emphasize: Hugos itself is not attracted to the process, which is designed to help Seattle WorldCon 2025 compile more efficiently for conference attendees.
Bond later released a further message on May 2, re-called for her apology to use chatgpt as part of the Convention’s planned review. “In addition, I regret to issue a statement that did not address our community’s concerns,” she shared. “My initial statement on the use of AI tools in the process of review was incomplete, flawed and missed the most critical point. I admit my mistakes and am very sorry for the harm it has caused.”
But, as File 770 points out, it has obviously caused damage: Any ability related to WorldCon creates fanaticism on social media using CHATGPT. It also inspired at least one Hugo candidate to remove their books from the argument: Yoon Ha Lee, his book Moon storm Appointed as a finalist for the Lodestar Awards, the honor is released. In the May 1 Blues post, the author is related to the above-mentioned April 30 WorldCon blog post and noted that he is considering withdrawing the title.
Then, in the post shared today, responding to File 770’s latest post, announcing his resignation, the author wrote: “All respect, I’m grateful for their work, sorry, [things] Come to this pass. ”
Seattle Worldcon 2025 will be held from August 13 to 17; the Hugo Awards will be awarded on August 16.
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