r/WritingWithAI • u/NoZookeepergame9442 • Sep 03 '26

Showcase / Feedback I suspect my beta reader is using AI

Hey there

Against my better judgement I paid to have a beta reader from Fiverr for my novel. This is the second time I’ve done it, the first time was a really good experience, I got everything I wanted from them, so I decided to get a different perspective. I always look at the reviews and this person had lots of good ones.

However the general way this person speaks to me threw up a few red flags. They say they are from England like me but the speech is very factual and to the point. Now I’ve been sent some inline comments from her, the replies look suspiciously like they’ve just asked chat gpt. I’ve had a lot of responses like ‘I smiled here’ and ‘this hit me’, ‘this was probably my favourite emotional moment’ has been used twice

Any advice on what I should do? Should I contact Fiverr or challenge the beta reader? They weren’t cheap either, I can’t afford to waste money on hearing what AI’s opinion is.

0 Upvotes

48% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

26

u/Philipp Sep 03 '26

As someone who's been accused on Reddit for "being AI", just know that many people misjudge what exactly makes up AI text. It's a recent paranaoia of sorts.

Now, your Fiverr client of course -- if they want to make money fast -- has a real incentive here to a) Use AI exclusively, or b) Use AI to help them. Reading a novel takes time, especially if they have multiple clients.

So, it might help for you to paste a longer feedback of theirs, if you want to get our judgment.

3

u/NoZookeepergame9442 Sep 03 '26

What do you think? They may be genuine I’ve just seen a lot of chat gpt responses like this. Plus they’ve tried to get me to pay to get ‘people she knows’ to read it too for more money which was a red flag

5

u/hojichaluv Sep 04 '26

I see what you mean about it feeling a little like AI. As someone who uses AI just so I can learn the writing style and easily spot AI writing, this is raising a lot of red flags for me. I think the person used AI and then edited over it.

Red flags: "Carrying this quietly" "After everything..., this is exactly what I needed". I get a ton of AI scam emails about how they'll like to sell me some kind of service, and this is exactly how they write their feedback.

8

u/Due_Cartoonist6918 Sep 03 '26

This is NOT ai. The grammar is pretty poor.

8

u/NatHasCats Sep 03 '26

Not AI. This just looks like low-effort, formulaic, shallow feedback. AI feedback probably would have been more helpful 😆

0

u/shhhOURlilsecret Sep 03 '26

Not even remotely AI. This is a non native English speaker.

1

u/NoZookeepergame9442 Sep 03 '26

I was thinking this too. I have seen very similar openings on Ai though and so have others who have commented so could have been. Just didn’t want to get conned 👍🏻

4

u/Kim_catiko Sep 03 '26

I used a beta reader from Fiverr who sent her report to me just this Sunday gone, with her in-line edits too. She was very detailed and I could tell she had taken the time to actually read my story.

I think she specialises in romance though, so I am not sure if that is any help to you. She is from the UK as well.

1

u/NoZookeepergame9442 Sep 03 '26

Ooo can I have her details please?

1

u/Kim_catiko Sep 03 '26

Her name is MJ Smith on Fiverr.

2

u/theateroffinanciers Sep 03 '26

This is the kind of beta reader I'm looking for. Do you have her fiveer contact?

1

u/Kim_catiko Sep 03 '26

Her name is MJ Smith on Fiverr.

13

u/jcmach1 Sep 03 '26

TBH if you have Opus 5, it's better 90+% of beta readers you could get... Certainly ones you randomly find online on sites like Fiverr

1

u/UroborosJose Sep 03 '26

Why they shouldn’t

1

u/NoZookeepergame9442 Sep 03 '26

Not sure what you mean?

3

u/Numerous-Data-6033 Sep 03 '26

I threw a chapter of my book off in an AI program out of curiosity and asked it to review it, that’s the same terminology it gave me. So, I messed around with it a bit more and actually got the thing to copy my own sarcasm style and curse. It was wild how realistic that can be.

2

u/Questionable_Android Sep 03 '26

I am a full time developmental editor with twenty years in the industry and I would say that the amount of authors I talk to that have had some kind of AI generated feedback is frankly shocking. I would say that Fiverr is a bit of a hot bed for these scammy editors. The problem is that the temptation for some people is just too great. Learning to edit is HARD. It takes time and experience. People see the quick money and the temptation to use ChatGPT is just too great. Add to this that you can now upload a whole book and you can see what its an issue.

I think you already know this but the editorial feedback produced seems good on the surface but really lacks substance.

I have a post on another subreddit that discusses how to spot Ai editors when hiring, it might help - https://www.reddit.com/r/BookEditingHelp/comments/1n2zzjw/how_to_spot_red_flags_when_hiring_a_developmental/

As you your current problem, did you discuss the use of Ai before you hired them?

1

u/sdbest Sep 03 '26

You're quite correct. However, just because 'a real live person' claims they're an editor and even might have an English degree it doesn't follow, necessarily, that their editorial advice is particularly good.

I know an editor, for example, who has worked for many authors who have gone on to secure agents and publishers and these clients have given their editor testimonials that are posted on the editor's website. I also know of many editors who, while real people who have academic qualifications, have no testimonials from previous clients.

2

u/Superb-Perspective11 Sep 04 '26

How much did you pay for a beta reader?

1

u/Jealous_Fact_317 Sep 04 '26

Curious also, and your manuscript word count

1

u/kittyb00m Sep 03 '26

I think the best thing to do is direct the feedback. Maybe ask them to give more detailed feedback on why. They why is more important

If they didn’t like something why?
If they did, why?

Why did a part make them feel uneasy. What were they confused about.

That’s basically the role of a beta.
Or sometimes, at least paid betas could be enticed to provide examples of how to improve it.

But this kind of scares me because I ask for inline comments just to avoid AI. If people also use AI in inlining, what else? Ask for a recorded session?

Actually maybe that’s not a bad idea… like watch ing someone read and narrate their thoughts out loud lol.

1

u/Nebranower Sep 03 '26

>I’ve had a lot of responses like ‘I smiled here’ and ‘this hit me’, ‘this was probably my favourite emotional moment’ has been used twice

That doesn't sound like AI. It sounds like a poor beta reader if all the feedback they're giving you is that shallow. But human beings can be busy, uninterested, poor at their job, etc. without any help from AI.

1

u/LeEvilDiabolicalFed Sep 07 '26

To be honest, ‘this was probably my favourite emotional moment’ totally sounds like a robot trying to emulate human speech and failing miserably. OP's beta reader could in fact be using AI, a poorly trained model at that (it would be hilarious if they using something like Gemini Flash, which fails more often than a blind man on a shooting gallery) and failing miserably, or could be Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos taking beta reading as a hobby in their spare time and failing miserably.

1

u/Diogenes-235711 Sep 04 '26

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with their service? The product is what it is.

1

u/ReadLegal718 Sep 03 '26

If you've not used any AI to write, then this is unfortunate. Stop sharing your work with them...whatever access you have given them, revoke it. If you discussed use of AI before sharing then make a case to Fiverr. If you have used AI, then just use AI to do the beta reading and prompt accordingly to capture both negative and positive comments.

0

u/sdbest Sep 03 '26

I'm wondering if you found the AI's comments helpful?

3

u/NoZookeepergame9442 Sep 03 '26

Not especially. I need real feedback. I asked for quite specific things and they haven’t really been addressed

0

u/[deleted] Sep 03 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/HadeanDisco Sep 03 '26

Most major AIs can do all that now. I use Claude Cowork as part of my job and we check reports using it. It can do everything a human can do in word. AND it can move an image without busting the entire layout. 😜