Regarding what #2 said about the NovelAI Kayra model being superior, I actually have to disagree a bit for someone who isnt tech savvy! I tried NovelAI for a fantasy project last year and honestly spent way more time messing with sliders and settings than actually writing lol. It felt like a lot of work when I just wanted to get my ideas down. I ended up switching to OpenAI ChatGPT Plus Subscription and it was a total game changer for me! I used it to help finish a goofy space adventure for my niece and it was amazing how much it helped with my brain freeze.

• It is super easy to use because you just talk to it like a person. No complex settings to learn.
• The custom instructions feature lets you tell it exactly what kind of sci-fi vibe you want once, and it remembers it for the whole book.
• It fits perfectly into your $20 budget! I love it because when I get stuck, I just say "hey what should happen next?" and it gives me five fantastic ideas to pick from. It really makes the whole process feel like a fun collaboration instead of a chore!

Honestly, I was in the exact same boat a few months ago and it is super overwhelming. You definitely dont need to spend more than $20 though, so dont worry about that. I would suggest starting with Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet because it feels way more human and less robotic than the others I tried. Just be careful about what you put in there though... make sure to keep your personal info out of the chats since these companies sometimes use your data to train their models. I usually stick to the free version first to see if I like the vibe before paying for the full Anthropic Claude 3 Opus which is their top tier. If you want something specifically for stories, NovelCrafter Personal Subscription is pretty cool but honestly it might be a bit much for a total beginner and you have to pay for your own AI credits. Id probably just stick to the basics for now. ChatGPT is fine too, but OpenAI ChatGPT Plus Subscription can sometimes be a bit formulaic with sci-fi stuff. Just make sure to save your work in a separate Word doc because you never know when a site might glitch or lose your chat history. Tbh for a gift for your nephew, Claude is probably your best bet for natural sounding dialogue. Just take it slow and dont feel like you have to learn all the techy stuff at once... it gets easier once you just start typing.

Building on the earlier suggestion, I've tried many LLMs over the years and NovelAI Kayra 13B Model is technically superior for long-form prose. Unlike general assistants, its specifically tuned for fiction using high-quality prose datasets. It wont lecture you on ethics or refuse your sci-fi plots. For $15 a month, the Tablet tier is well within your budget and offers better context handling than basic chat interfaces. Just way more granular control tbh.

Just saw this thread. I had big worries about my private drafts being used for training when I started my sci-fi book. I finally found a setup that works well because it actually respects privacy. Its such a relief tbh...

• Look for no-training clauses
• Check for data encryption
• Verify they dont own your output Staying safe online is basically my top priority now and it makes writing way more fun.