A novelist was accused of using AI. Why the literary world is still

When John Degen’s murder-mystery novel Seldom Seen Road is published next month, he’ll be one of the first Canadian authors to have a small label with the words “Human Authored” printed on the back of the book jacket.

The certification — developed by the Society of Authors, a U.K. trade union — operates on an honour code system: If you’re an author who wants to declare that your book was written without any assistance from artificial intelligence, this is one way of doing so.

“I really wish it wasn’t necessary, I’ll say that,” said Degen, a Toronto-based writer who is president of the Writers’ Union of Canada and chair of the International Authors Forum. “But because it is necessary, I’m very proud to stand behind my work.”

The label is nothing if not timely. Weeks ago, the North American publishing industry was rocked when a New York Times story accused horror writer Mia Ballard of using generative artificial intelligence to write her novel Shy Girl.

The Times presented evidence compelling enough for Ballard’s publisher, Hachette, to cancel the book’s U.S. and U.K. release entirely. Ballard denied using AI to write the novel but said it was possible an editor she’d worked with on the self-published version might have.

The scandal divided the industry. Some accepted the accusation — and Hachette’s response — as truth. Others felt the punishment was prejudicial, since AI-detection software like the kind used to evaluate Ballard’s writing tends to be imperfect.

The incident, which Ballard says has ruined her career, demonstrates the conundrum that literary professionals face as they comb through every pitch, query letter and manuscript lobbed their way: How do you separate the proverbial wheat from the AI-generated chaff, and what happens if you get it wrong?

“I really would have preferred to see her publisher stand up for her and stand behind the work themselves because they trusted their own process,” Degen said. “I mean, the best AI detector in the world — the best detector of bad writing — is a good editorial process.”

Is there a right way to use AI?

Most of the literary professionals who spoke to CBC News for this story said it matters how AI is used in the writing process. It’s a distinction that several self-publishing platforms have also made.

For example, some distinguished between a text that is completely AI-generated (for example, when text or content is created entirely from scratch based on a prompt) — versus a text that is AI-assisted (when a human is responsible for the output, but AI is used for tasks like spell check or editorial feedback).

Kindle Direct Publishing, for example, asks writers in its content guidelines to declare any AI-generated text, photos or…