Hi everyone! This letter is a polite request to Fantasy Forest Management to consider implementing an Anti-AI policy for Traders & Vendors at their events. Fantasy Forest is a UK based festival with two annual events focused on all things Fantasy. 

This is specifically regarding for profit traders/vendors that have a stall at the event, not individuals. 

Please also be aware this is simply a call for this to be considered by management - there may be logistical reasons or other reasons behind the scenes we are unaware of that would make this difficult to implement, and it's important that no matter the outcome the FF management team are treated with respect. 

For anyone that isn't particularly tech savvy, Gen-AI is art or literature created or enhanced by an AI bot. (Not a human.)

Lastly - if you support Gen-AI art being sold at FF you are well within your rights to disagree and not sign the letter, Fantasy Forest is a place for all types of people and opinions to be welcome and it's important we keep any conversations around this topic constructive and polite, please. 

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Dear Fantasy Forest Management,

Firstly, I wanted to say how grateful we are for the amazing Fantasy Festival you put on year after year, for fans of Fantasy, Cosplay, LARPing, Crafting, Steampunk - the list goes on! We don't underestimate the amount of time, effort and care that goes into creating such a special event. 

As the Festival matures and reaches new audiences, the community does also, and as a community we've had many discussions lately around the use of Generative AI to create literature and art, and the negative impact it can have on real creators. 

At its heart, Fantasy Forest is about bringing our imaginations to life, forming connections with like-minded people and supporting artists, writers, crafters, bakers and other creatives. Therefore it is our belief as a community that Gen-AI does not have a place at Fantasy Forest as it goes against the ethos and atmosphere FF promotes. 

Many other large-scale festivals have decided to have a blanket ban on any products created by AI, because it has a detrimental effect on creatives. Creatives that have dedicated years to learning their craft, creating something that can't simply be replicated by a machine, adding that sprinkle of magic that can only be found when something is made with a human touch. 

The community are looking for that irreplaceable magic when buying from vendors at FF, so we believe that being able to purchase from sellers safe in the knowledge that nothing has been created by Gen-AI can only be a positive, improving the overall quality of products sold at FF.   

We understand the complexities of running a huge outdoor event like this and accept that such a change may take time to implement. However, we as a community would be sincerely grateful if you could take the time to consider our thoughts on Gen-AI and its impact on creatives. Even if the initial implementation is an honour-based system in which vendors confirm to you as part of the application process that they don't create or resell any products using Gen-AI, that would be a huge leap forward. 

For now, we are curating a list of sellers that confirm that they do not use Gen AI so we can ensure we speak with our wallets at the next Fantasy Forest Festival. But the official backing of a ban on Gen-AI products by Fantasy Forest management would be greatly appreciated by many in the community. 

Thank you for your time and consideration!

[Banner photo is freely available to use and was created by freestocks.org]