US Authors Guild to certify books from ‘human intellect’ rather than AI

The US body representing writers, the Authors Guild, has launched an online portal for members to confirm that their work “emanated from the human intellect” and not from artificial intelligence.

The initiative, called Human Authored, will allow authors to log on to the portal and register their book. They will then be able to use a specially designed logo on book covers and promotional materials to show that their work has been created without AI.

Human Authored “isn’t about rejecting technology – it’s about creating transparency, acknowledging the reader’s desire for human connection, and celebrating the uniquely human elements of storytelling,” chief executive Mary Rasenberger said in a statement. “Authors can still qualify if they use AI as a tool for spellchecking or research, but the certification connotes that the literary expression itself, with the unique human voice that every author brings to their writing, emanated from the human intellect.”

Though currently only the guild’s members will be able to access the portal and use the logo on their work, the guild plans to patent the logo and open the system to non-members.

Author and head of communications at the Institute for the Future of Work, Kester Brewin, opened his book God-Like: A 500-Year History of Artificial Intelligence with an AI transparency statement, laying out where AI had been used in the writing of his book. “Transparency about where and how AI has been used in written works in particular is absolutely fundamental to sustaining the trust relationship between writers and readers,” he said, calling the Authors Guild portal “encouraging”.

There is no such scheme currently available to authors in Britain, although the UK’s Society of Authors (SoA), has put together guidelines to help its members protect their work from the impact of AI.

The SoA also conducted a survey last year that found more than a third of translators had lost work due to generative AI. In light of the survey, the UK’s largest trade union for writers, illustrators and translators, said that there is an “urgent need” for government regulation of AI tools to ensure they are developed and used “ethically and lawfully”.

More recently, novelists Kate Mosse and Richard Osman criticised Labour’s plan to make the UK “one of the great AI superpowers”, saying it could amount to theft and harm the UK creative industry.