The Bookseller - Comment - Why AI can't compete with authors

This year, the entry requirements for the Women's Prize included a new specification: "All books must be unified and substantial works written by a single human author." Once upon a time, "human" was implicit. However, in the age of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT, machines will soon be capable of authoring whole novels if they're not already.

The non-human-author is a divisive figure. For publishers and agents, it surely represents the ideal: inexpensive; reliable; amenable to edits. For writers, it's a terrifying spectre, poised to steal jobs and cut the heart out of creativity. Indeed, the ongoing writers' strike in the US is motivated in part by concerns about the use of AI in screenwriting.

But we needn't be so afraid. However beautifully machines learn to write, they will never inspire the same fascination as their human counterparts.