From now on, the Nebula Awards will no longer allow those remotely involved in generative AI to be eligible for nominations, much less to win.
On Friday morning, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) President Kate Lisatou reiterated the judging process for awards related to large-scale language modeling tools (LLMs). SFWA's philosophy of “trusting the voters” means that works “written entirely using generative LLM tools” are ineligible, and if a nominated work used LLM “at any point” in the writing process, that will be noted on the ballot.
It was the second part of these rules that sparked controversy in the online space, with several people accusing the SFWA of taking a half-hearted stance toward generative AI and LLMs. Hours later, the association issued a new statement with revised wording, saying that works written using the technology “in whole or in part” are ineligible for the Nebula Prize. Creators who use LLM during the writing process must disclose that use when accepting nominations and will be disqualified thereafter.
Regarding the original rules, SFWA acknowledged that they “do not reflect our current policies or deeply held beliefs and values, and have been amended to reflect that. To be clear, SFWA does not support the use of LLM generative models in the production of creative works.” It also said that the rules posted will be changed in the coming days to reflect this.
Generative AI and LLM are controversial in creative fields such as writing and video games. Earlier this week, Larian Studios baldur's gate 3, Risatu's name confirmation in its initial statement came under fire when founder and game director Swen Vincke told Bloomberg that the studio uses generative AI to “explore ideas, flesh out PowerPoint presentations, develop concept art, and create placeholder text.” AI-generated content like this won't be included in the studio's next game. divinity, Although Vincke acknowledged that his staff was initially skeptical, he believed that “everyone in the company more or less agreed with how we were using it.”
This resulted in criticism from players and several game developers, with much of the latter category coming from former Larian staff and writers who took issue with Larian's hiring process. Vincke asserted that machine learning tools are “additions to the workflow of creative teams and individuals, not replacements for skills and craftsmanship.” […] We have no intention of releasing a game with an AI component, nor are we looking to reduce our team to replace it with AI. ”
As of last Thursday, Vincke published a Reddit AMA attended by Larian staff. That's because the original Bloomberg interview (and the ensuing controversy) “got lost in translation. To gain more insight, we'll be hosting an AMA featuring various departments at our company after the holidays, where you'll have the opportunity to ask us directly any questions you have about Divinity and our development process.” The AMA dates and participants will be revealed in the new year.
The 2026 Nebula Award winners will be announced at the awards conference in Chicago from June 5th to June 7th.
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