Seattle Worldcon’s Chair Clarifies Use of ChatGPT and Offers Another Apology

As sci-fi fans well know by now, it wouldn’t be the Hugo Awards without some spice on the side. In recent years, the esteemed prize—handed out annually at the World Science Fiction Society convention, also known as Worldcon, whose members vote on the honorees—has weathered its share of controversies, with negative headlines (take your pick: geographical censorship; racism; ties to defense manufacturers; anti-“woke” backlash before anti-“woke” was even a thing) sometimes getting more attention than the books and other media the Hugos aim to celebrate. As io9 previously reported, this year’s flashpoint is the use of ChatGPT—but fortunately, not in a way that has any impact on the actual Hugo Awards. The Hugo ceremony is just one part of August’s Seattle Worldcon 2025; it’s also a convention that hosts panels featuring authors and other sci-fi and fantasy luminaries. Within the past two weeks, it was discovered that ChatGPT had been used to help vet program participants; three people inv ... Read full article.