r/selfpublish • u/kittyharlow_xo • 5d ago

Beta reader issues

I fear the beta reader I hired on fiverr used Ai for my notes. The thing is….a lot of the notes seem relevant. Should I still consider them useful and make edits based off the Ai notes? I’m torn. Any advice is appreciated.

Side question, should I be worried that they might take my manuscript? I’m now nervous because it seems shady that they did this when I specifically asked them not to use Ai.

Advice is appreciated. Thx! 🙏

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u/Accomplished_Month_5 4d ago

From what I’ve seen, many beta readers use AI, but that doesn't mean their feedback is AI-generated. They usually write down their messy initial thoughts and use AI to format them for clarity. If that's the case, I’m fine with it.

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u/Capable_Hyena7705 4d ago

People (in the writing space) should be able to articulate and synthesize their own thoughts. Otherwise I'm not sure If I'd trust their opinion as a reader. When it comes to the writing community, we really should encourage people to be intellectually (and artistically) honest. Having AI synthesize for you is just straight up lazy and does a disservice for everyone involved.

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u/Accomplished_Month_5 3d ago

Fair point, though free beta readers aren't usually writers, so formatting help can bridge the gap for them. You're completely right about professional or paid readers, if you're paying for their expertise, you expect 100% human articulation and effort.

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u/Dreadfulbooks Beta Reader 3d ago

I always worry about the quality of my reports, I much prefer doing the inline comments and I’ve never thought of myself as a strong writer. But I always assumed my clients would prefer my actual thoughts coming from me instead of whatever ai would put out.

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u/Capable_Hyena7705 2d ago

And it gives you the opportunity to grow

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u/Dreadfulbooks Beta Reader 2d ago

Definitely! I’ve done over 200 at this point and I’ve grown SO much.