The death of the author: More than HALF of British novelists believe AI will replace
Britain boasts some of the best authors in the world – but they could soon be replaced by AI, a disturbing report reveals.
Over the next few decades, artificial intelligence could pump out mass-produced fiction while human writers struggle to keep up, experts fear.
It means the next Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie or J. R. R. Tolkien could remain undiscovered – while AI produces novels ‘mined’ from the work of previous authors.
And it’s especially bad news for those who enjoy romance, thrillers or crime, as these are the genres most at risk.
The report, carried out by researchers at the University of Cambridge, involved asking 258 published novelists and 74 industry insiders about how AI is viewed and used in the world of fiction.
More than half – 51 per cent – said they believe AI is likely to end up entirely replacing their work, while over a third said their income has already taken a hit from the technology.
Meanwhile some creatives envision a dystopic two-tier market emerging, where the human-written novel becomes a ‘luxury item’ while mass-produced AI fiction is cheap or free.
‘There is widespread concern from novelists that generative AI trained on vast amounts of fiction will undermine the value of writing and compete with human novelists,’ report author Dr Clementine Collett, from the University of Cambridge, said.
AI tools such as Qyx AI Book Creator (pictured) and Squibler can already be used to draft full-length novels
The survey also found that 59 per cent of authors say they know their work has been used to train large language models – such as ChatGPT – without permission or payment.
‘Many novelists felt uncertain there will be an appetite for complex, long-form writing in years to come,’ Dr Collett said.
‘The novel is a precious and vital form of creativity that is worth fighting for.’
She pointed out that novels ‘contribute more than we can imagine’ to society, culture and the lives of individuals, and are the basis for countless films, television shows and video games.
Tech companies have the fiction market firmly in their sights, the report warns, with AI tools already used to brainstorm and edit novels, draft full-length books and assist with publishing processes.
‘The brutal irony is that the generative AI tools affecting novelists are likely trained on millions of pirated novels scraped from shadow libraries without the consent or remuneration of authors,’ Dr Collette added.
Some novelists worry AI will disrupt the ‘magic’ of the creative process.
Stephen May, writer of acclaimed historical novels such as ‘Sell Us the Rope’ expressed anxiety over AI taking the required ‘friction’ and ‘pain’ out of a first draft, diminishing the final product.
Experts worry the days of British authors could be limited. Pictured: A copy of one of Britain’s most beloved novels – A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The authors also warned of a loss of originality in fiction, and that the use of AI could lead to ever blander, more formulaic fiction that exacerbates stereotypes.
Some said the AI era may even trigger a boom in ‘experimental’ fiction as writers work to prove they are human.
‘Novelists, publishers and agents alike said the core purpose of the novel is to explore and convey human complexity,’ Dr Collette concluded.
‘Many spoke about increased use of AI putting this at risk, as AI cannot understand what it means to be human.’
Commenting on the report Tracy Chevalier, best-selling novelist and author of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ and ‘The Glassmaker’, said: ‘I worry that a book industry driven mainly by profit will be tempted to use AI more and more to generate books.
‘If it is cheaper to produce novels using AI – no advance or royalties to pay to authors, quicker production, retainment of copyright – publishers will almost inevitably choose to publish them.
‘And if they are priced cheaper than “human made” books, readers are likely to buy them, the way we buy machine-made jumpers rather than the more expensive hand-knitted ones.’
Despite concerns, the report found that 80 per cent of respondents agreed that AI offers benefits to parts of society while a third of writers said they use AI in their writing process, mainly for ‘non creative’ tasks such as information searches.
Romance, thrillers and crime novels are the most at risk, the Cambridge University report reveals (file image)
The research was supported by the Bridging Responsible AI Divides programme (BRAID UK).
Its co-directors, Professor Ewa Luger and Professor Shannon Vallor, said: ‘It’s hard to think of any other art form that can promote empathy, kindness and understanding as well as novels do.
‘The UK has always been known for its great fiction writers and publishing industry.
‘Undervaluing this important part of our culture would be a real loss.’
HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES LEARN USING NEURAL NETWORKS
AI systems rely on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn.
ANNs can be trained to recognise patterns in information – including speech, text data, or visual images – and are the basis for a large number of the developments in AI over recent years.
Conventional AI uses input to ‘teach’ an algorithm about a particular subject by feeding it massive amounts of information.
AI systems rely on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn. ANNs can be trained to recognise patterns in information – including speech, text data, or visual images
Practical applications include Google’s language translation services, Facebook’s facial recognition software and Snapchat’s image altering live filters.
The process of inputting this data can be extremely time consuming, and is limited to one type of knowledge.
A new breed of ANNs called Adversarial Neural Networks pits the wits of two AI bots against each other, which allows them to learn from each other.
This approach is designed to speed up the process of learning, as well as refining the output created by AI systems.