Authors and editors share their biggest fears about AI in writing

In February this year, Japanese author Rie Kudan revealed that she had used artificial intelligence to write about 5 percent of her award-winning novel. Meanwhile, last year, some prominent authors took legal action against OpenAI, accusing it of violating copyright laws by using their books to train ChatGPT. In a world that values ​​authenticity, the temptation to use AI to improve, correct, or even generate content is hard to resist. But should we welcome or fear the moment when technology begins to overshadow our creativity?

Krishan Chopra, Editor-in-Chief of Bloomsbury India recognises the ever-evolving potential of AI, but raises a crucial point: “For example, it can help write clearer texts, with fewer grammatical errors and correct spelling, and even check for plagiarism, as some existing programmes do, but the real task of an author will still be to generate original and creative content that provides human insights. Creative writing, by its nature, cannot be a formula or an assembly line. I hope we retain that sense of discrimination between the real and the artificial.” He compares it to the game of chess, where AI opponents can play flawlessly, but the satisfaction of facing a real opponent is lost.

Sahitya Akademi Award-winning author Mridula Garg expresses her concerns and says she hopes “writers never use it in the name of innovation to produce literary works.” Author and columnist Vinita Dawra Nangia shares a similar sentiment. “I would never want AI to replace the unique creative voices and storytelling skills of humans. It would be horrible if there comes a time when AI replaces authors completely in the field of writing, that humans forget their writing skills or the use of imagination to tell stories. Because it is imagination and creativity that elevates humans far above every other life form. And it is the art of storytelling that forges relationships and helps us evolve. They say that everything AI does lacks the spirit of empathy or relatability. What else is life about? What else is storytelling? I hope AI never learns to emote, empathize or relate to humans the way we do!”

Author Ravinder Singh The author raises another major concern: plagiarism. He questions the originality of content created with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT. “Basically, the source of all the information that AI collects is on the internet. Now, it should not happen that someone who wants to become an author or is using ChatGPT as an assistant to perform searches, Chat GPT returns results that have actually been written by someone else. This leads to intentional plagiarism, as the intellectual property belongs to someone else, which is now shown to someone else without the source of that writer. Let’s say I am using GPT to write a book, GPT shows me certain very good paragraphs, quotes, and sentences and I read/use them without even knowing that there is a fellow author who wrote those quotes. That should not happen. That is my biggest fear.” He is not so worried about people falsely claiming to have written something with the help of AI, as it is difficult to find out, but he emphasizes the importance of knowing whether what you are borrowing from AI really belongs to you.

In short, while AI can offer useful tools for writing, the core of storytelling must always remain human. Writers and editors are hopeful that we can embrace technology without losing the very essence of what makes us storytellers.