The Inevitable Rise of AI?

Back in 2023 I wrote an article about the potential impact of generative AI on authors and how we should respond. I thought it was time to return to this subject, prompted by a BookBub article published on 15th May 2025, summarising the results of a survey of over 1,200 authors on their use of generative AI. When I refer to AI in this blog, I’m referring to generative AI, which was the focus of the BookBub survey.

The article drew a lot of attention on social media with the headline that 45% of authors are using AI to assist with their work, with another 7% considering whether to use it in the future. There’s always a temptation to respond immediately when these sorts of issues are raised but I wanted to think about this carefully before making my opinion public. This is a long article, so make sure you’re sitting comfortably with your beverage of choice as we go into this one.

As I detailed in my 2023 blog article, the way AI has been developed leaves many authors with deep misgivings about the technology. Consequently, the use of AI is seen by some as a distinctly moral issue, since it was trained and developed on copyrighted work, used without the creator’s knowledge or consent. Personally, I have a huge issue with this but with the enormous financial investment by technology companies in AI I’m convinced it’s here to stay. With around half of authors now using it in some shape or form how should we respond to that?

The clear picture from the survey is the emerging technology is being embraced by some authors (with varying degrees of competency) in ways which impact every area of how books are written, edited and published. BookBub’s survey produced rage in some quarters, with others arguing you have to move with the times. So, who’s right? To examine this, I think you have to look at the different areas in which AI now has a potential application but also consider how society has always had to deal with change.

Use of AI primarily as a creative writing tool

The fear in 2023 was there would be a flood of 100% AI written books. We did briefly see some of these titles emerge on Amazon but they were easy to spot and, unsurprisingly, unreadable. There was some suspicion that they weren’t really there to attract human readers, more to allow bots to then farm Kindle Unlimited page reads for a few pence per page.

The BookBub survey provides a more nuanced picture of how this technology is being used in practice. This includes research, copy or artwork for marketing, outlining, plotting, editing, proofreading, cover art and audiobook narration. Just over a quarter of authors surveyed said they used it for writing, but the picture that’s emerging is they’re either taking their own output and working with that using AI assistance or, alternatively, taking the AI output and then heavily modifying this with their own writing craft.

Not everyone bothers to change the AI-written elements, of course. There have been some notable and cringeworthy instances of authors publishing their books with the AI prompt left in the text. Honestly, if you’re going to do this at least have the decency to edit the thing first.

Writers might complain that they are being outperformed by other people willing to use AI to produce those early drafts, or brainstorm their way through writer’s block. However, livelihoods have changed throughout history with the advent of progress. Modern farming methods have massively reduced the number of people needed to work on a farm, whilst technology and robotics revolutionised manufacturing and made many roles obsolete.

The impact on this for individuals was devastating at the time, and those changes were not always implemented in a benign and morally correct way. Society was forced to adapt and move on and collectively we enjoy those benefits of increased productivity to this day. In my day job, which is unrelated to creative writing, if I mention there are some moral issues with the use of AI I’m met with a lukewarm response at best. People tend to take the line that what’s done is done and you can’t uninvent AI. It’s time to move on and reap the benefits.

Is there a tipping point, where enough time has passed that we don’t need to keep looking back to some of the morally dubious activity that was undertaken to gain an edge between companies as they developed their AI technology? Does it matter if it was five years ago? Ten? A generation? Whether we agree with its use or not, we’re going to increasingly see AI incorporated into our daily lives and I don’t think we can entirely get away from it.

Turning back to my example of the industrial revolution and the impact this had on people’s livelihoods, it’s important to note that creative writing is not the main income of most authors and the odds are massively stacked against that fact ever changing. It’s worth remembering this has always been the case. Recently a friend of mine, the author HL Tinsley, summed this up perfectly and I asked if I could quote her for this article:

"AI is the death of hope. It's the realisation that the masses would rather manufacture your dreams than let you try to live them."

In other words, the impact of AI on the lives of most authors is a brutal reality check.

The following quote by one of those authors surveyed and referenced in the BookBub article really struck me as well:

“The creative landscape is shifting and AI is becoming a major force in our reality as creators. Let’s help each other learn, adapt, mourn where needed, and embrace change as empowered individuals and communities. It’s time to stop tearing each other down for opinions and usage about AI. We need more deep curiosity and to question the premise that only some people deserve to be “good” or “real” artists or only the “good” and “real” artists should experience abundance. That is no longer true and we are being invited to step into a new paradigm. It’s up to us to design it.”

Behind the statement is a sense that talent doesn't intrinsically deserve to be rewarded. Rather than applaud someone's hard work and creativity, it's become, "What about me? I can do that too." Should we say no to that, and act as gatekeepers when it comes to art? Another hard truth here is you can’t close that gate – people have already made that choice and there’s no going back. Not every author might admit they use AI (the fact 75% of those surveyed who did chose to keep it quiet is very telling, though perhaps understandable in the current climate) but it’s happening.

Use of AI in other areas of book production

I remain of the view that there will still be the demand for human authors creating content readers enjoy. They may or may not use AI to assist them in their writing and/or plot development, but I think creative writers will always have a role. The starker threat, which is borne out in the BookBub survey, is the negative impact on the wider circle of professional roles that support authors, especially artists, editors and narrators.

Some people see this as a levelling of the playing field and a chance to produce their art to the standards they aspired to, where cost was previously a barrier. Before you dismiss that argument too quickly, it’s worth considering your own upbringing and circumstances. You certainly couldn’t do much about it, but the cards you were dealt at birth have huge repercussions throughout your adult life, both professionally and personally. Life gives some people advantages over others and if you get a head start there’s absolutely no doubt it will help you succeed in your chosen field, including being a writer. I’m fortunate that I have a good job, supportive family and some inherent skills that made it easier for me to put out books independently. My parents never had much money but they filled my home with books, which sparked my interest in reading and ultimately writing. They also prioritised my education (I was the first member of my family to go to university), which helped develop my ability to write and also edit my own work.

There has always been an element of ‘pay to play’ in independent publishing, from hiring editors, commissioning artwork and putting a marketing budget behind your launch. Unless you were able to secure a traditional publication deal, if you didn’t have the advantages of a budget then your work either (i) didn’t get published or, alternatively, (ii) it was independently published to lower quality standards. Some argue the use of AI helps level that playing field and gives everyone the opportunity to realise their ambitions and dreams. This brings us back to whether or not it’s a tool you should use – and the issue here is it’s not just one tool.

If someone lacks the network of friends, family and writers I’m privileged to enjoy, is it wrong for them to use AI to help them brainstorm and develop ideas?

If someone with dyslexia doesn’t have the funds to pay for multiple editorial rounds, should they not use AI to help them proofread their manuscript? I’d draw a distinction here between checking for typos and getting insight from another human when it comes to development editing, which I cover further below.

How many of us would ever use a professional marketing agency to generate advertising copy? If this is something you struggle with, should you still refrain from using AI to assist?

Pretty much every action you take in life comes down to a moral choice, whether you’re aware of that fact or not. From your preferred mode of transport, what you put in your shopping basket and which companies you work with, your choices always have an impact on someone somewhere. Like a lot of things in life, I don’t think the use of AI is a black and white moral issue, notwithstanding the ethical shortcomings of how the technology was developed.

My position

I can’t get away from the fact that AI is becoming increasingly embedded in the software I use to write. Even as I’m typing this blog article, Microsoft Word is providing me with suggestions on the next word I should be using. More often than not, that’s the word I was intending to use and as a result I’m typing this out a little bit faster than I would have done otherwise. In other words, I’m already using aspects of AI in my daily life.

For me, where AI is removing some of the drudgery I’m willing to use it or consider using it, which probably puts me in the 7% group of authors in the BookBub survey. When I thought about this further, though, I realised I’m actually in the 45% of authors who are already using AI for some aspects. That said, my stance is different when it comes to using it in ways which are fundamental to the creative process.

I would never use AI to create cover art for my books. Yes, this comes at a cost but there are affordable options out there, especially if you’re willing to work with someone new. For me, finding that connection between the story and what appears on the cover is part of the creative process for the book as a whole. I wouldn’t want to give that over to AI and trust my AI prompting ability to deliver the best outcome.

All my books have benefited from a development edit and I can’t emphasise enough how those moments of collaboration are often the difference between your work being good and becoming outstanding. I think there’s a real danger that in seeking to improve our efficiency we unconsciously settle for mediocrity, using tools which bypass the opportunity to collaborate creatively with another person. For early development edits I think human involvement is essential. For proofreading and trying to catch every typo at the very end of the process I already use Word’s read aloud feature, which has AI built in for more natural sounding voices. And this is coming from someone who is considering offering editorial services in the future.

I also think human narration for audiobooks is a far better choice than the cheaper AI alternatives. I get why some people will go down the AI route, because the costs of hiring a narrator can be high. I had to run a crowdfunding campaign to pay for mine. Even if you choose to work with a narrator on a pure royalty share basis rather than paying an hourly rate, you’re generally taking a risk on working with someone new, who may or may not be qualified and capable of delivering your project. The point here is there are low-cost narration alternatives to AI. For me, this comes back to the importance of human involvement in the creative process. My narrator was able to understand the nuances of the text and the emotional context and views of the different characters, which was reflected in their performance. With 30 distinct characters, the final work was delivered using a consistent set of regional accents, helping establish a sense of place for the whole story. I would have got none of that with the AI option, and the listening experience would not have been as rich and immersive.

When it comes to the creative writing process itself, I’m firmly against AI for a number of reasons. I don’t like the word ‘competitor’ because I regard other writers as colleagues, but looking at this through a commercial lens I’m probably at a disadvantage in terms of producing future books as quickly as some of my fellow authors who are using AI. I don’t expect to make my fortune writing books – mainly because it’s one of the worst possible career choices you could make if that’s your goal. I write because I love to write, and I love every aspect of the process of creating a novel, from start to finish. I’m not going to give up doing the things I enjoy for the sake of productivity.

That’s really what’s at the centre of this debate. If we give over the creation of art to technology we start to prize speed over the value of the creative journey. Are we losing sight of the reason why people are creative in the first place? For those authors who feel they might be losing ground and their audience, compared with those who are using AI to produce their work more quickly, would you still write if it became impossible for readers to find you? Is the creation of a book something for you, as the author, or does it only come alive when it’s in the hands of the reader?

Books are a commodity people will choose to buy, or not – this has always been the case. I absolutely want to sell the books I write, because that means they’re finding their way into the hands of my readers and that’s always going to be my goal. However, I primarily create my art for me – for the love of doing it and to nourish my soul. Not everyone will agree I’m going about this in the most commercial or efficient way, but that doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to approach this issue with your eyes open, consider your choices carefully and ensure you’ve not lost sight of why you started writing in the first place.

You can find the BookBub survey findings here:

https://insights.bookbub.com/how-authors-are-thinking-about-ai-survey/