Should I use AI to write my book?

It is getting increasingly difficult to tell the difference between a fake and the real thing. No matter how clever we think we are, we can no longer believe our own eyes. Artificial Intelligence has now gone further than simply creating a believable 3D version of our faces, it can now clone our voices so accurately that you can no longer believe what we hear.  

Apart from the potential for fraud and creating deep fakes with the intention of fooling others, it brings the whole question of the Authenticity of everything into question. Is it real or isn’t it? With authors, Authenticity is everything! It is easy to get caught out if you look for shortcuts.

Authors have been using ghostwriters for years now and passing off their writing as their own. Usually, they get away with it. But people are not stupid. They can easily detect the author’s true voice in their writing and feel cheated if the voice they hear does not ring true.

Today, everyone is talking about Artificial Intelligence, AI is the current “Big Thing”. However, as a publisher, the AI I have always put my faith in “Author Intelligence” rather than the artificial variety. In my experience, authors are amazing!

There is no doubt that the results of AI are getting better by the day. It can ingest copious amounts of content and shuffle them together in new and fascinating ways. Nobody would be any the wiser. But there is one thing it cannot do.

When people are seeking out a book on a topic they would like to learn more about, they are looking for more than facts and strategies; they also want to learn about the author’s personal Philosophy. Why did he do things in the way he did? What has experience taught him to take decisions in a particular way? Why is his wisdom unique? What does he know that I don’t?

Facts you can get from Wackypedia, anytime.  Knowledge and wisdom, which have been honed out of the rockface of hard-won experience, is far more valuable and illusive.

Before throwing the baby out with the bathwater and sacking the real-life writers and content creators, think of what they bring to the party!  It is not about simply finding a cheap way to produce space-filling content. Good writing which challenges, informs, amuses, educates and inspires needs more than just an algorithm, it requires passion, a sense of mission, a real brain – and the intention to make a difference.

Authors! Don’t panic! You won’t be replaced for a very long time yet! AI is a tool not a competitor.

Chris Day – founder of Filament Publishing Ltd