AI Publishing: The graveyard of regurgitated content
Friend of Mike: “So, Mike, what are your plans for today?”
Mike: “I’m writing and publishing a book. My AI chatbot gave me a great idea for a prompt.”
Friend of Mike: “Cool. So what are your plans after your morning coffee?”
Mike: “Oh, it’ll take me all day. It’s a ten-part epic fantasy that will make A Game of Thrones look like a pamphlet.”
STOP–RIGHT–THERE. Is this the future of publishing? No, it isn’t the future, because it’s already here. Not gonna lie. I don’t like it or the implications it has for ‘the craft’, as Stephen King calls it. Here’s why, IMHO.
There are no original stories, so it’s okay to use AI, right?
According to Christopher Booker, there are seven basic plots in storytelling. They’ve all been told by many people many times. But every writer brings unique insight and perspective to their story, which is what keeps every new interpretation fresh and interesting. There is beauty in human creativity, inspiration and invention, and AI will never have these qualities. If we all stop writing and use AI to publish instead, there actually will be no original stories, only rehashed ones, and publishing will become a graveyard of regurgitated content.
Are you a writer if you use AI to create books?
No. At best, you’re an AI whisperer and an editor if you curate the content. It makes me mad that people are putting their names to AI titles and claiming the books are their work. They’re not. They’re AI-generated transformed texts from pre-trained sources. They are rehashed writings from other people’s work. AI-generated books are essentially an advanced form of plagiarism.
But, Mike, AI takes the legwork out of creating a book.
No, it takes all the work out of creating a book. Being a writer involves, you know, writing. I love the agony of reworking a sentence sixteen times until I feel I’ve got it right. “I don’t want my pain taken away. I need my pain!” to quote Captain Kirk. It brings me joy when I get one-star ratings from people because they didn’t like my story or writing style. At least it’s MY story and style, not other people’s rehashed work.
But, Mike, AI helps me overcome writer’s block.
If you need AI to overcome writer’s block, you probably shouldn’t be writing. Writer’s block is there for a reason, to challenge you to overcome whatever is holding you back from writing the next sentence. It is a catalyst for your divine human creativity, inspiration and invention.
And anyone who is using AI to cash in on ‘reinventing’ books that are no longer protected by copyright needs to have a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror. It’s still theft of intellectual property, no matter how you dress it up.
I would love it if people who ‘create’ AI books grew some balls and were honest about it in the front matter. It’s simple.
TITLE OF YOUR AI-GENERATED BOOK
BY (NAME OF AI TOOL USED)
Based on a prompt by (YOUR NAME)
Then I can avoid it.
Mike: “I’m writing and publishing a book. My AI chatbot gave me a great idea for a prompt.”
Friend of Mike: “Cool. So what are your plans after your morning coffee?”
Mike: “Oh, it’ll take me all day. It’s a ten-part epic fantasy that will make A Game of Thrones look like a pamphlet.”
STOP–RIGHT–THERE. Is this the future of publishing? No, it isn’t the future, because it’s already here. Not gonna lie. I don’t like it or the implications it has for ‘the craft’, as Stephen King calls it. Here’s why, IMHO.
There are no original stories, so it’s okay to use AI, right?
According to Christopher Booker, there are seven basic plots in storytelling. They’ve all been told by many people many times. But every writer brings unique insight and perspective to their story, which is what keeps every new interpretation fresh and interesting. There is beauty in human creativity, inspiration and invention, and AI will never have these qualities. If we all stop writing and use AI to publish instead, there actually will be no original stories, only rehashed ones, and publishing will become a graveyard of regurgitated content.
Are you a writer if you use AI to create books?
No. At best, you’re an AI whisperer and an editor if you curate the content. It makes me mad that people are putting their names to AI titles and claiming the books are their work. They’re not. They’re AI-generated transformed texts from pre-trained sources. They are rehashed writings from other people’s work. AI-generated books are essentially an advanced form of plagiarism.
But, Mike, AI takes the legwork out of creating a book.
No, it takes all the work out of creating a book. Being a writer involves, you know, writing. I love the agony of reworking a sentence sixteen times until I feel I’ve got it right. “I don’t want my pain taken away. I need my pain!” to quote Captain Kirk. It brings me joy when I get one-star ratings from people because they didn’t like my story or writing style. At least it’s MY story and style, not other people’s rehashed work.
But, Mike, AI helps me overcome writer’s block.
If you need AI to overcome writer’s block, you probably shouldn’t be writing. Writer’s block is there for a reason, to challenge you to overcome whatever is holding you back from writing the next sentence. It is a catalyst for your divine human creativity, inspiration and invention.
And anyone who is using AI to cash in on ‘reinventing’ books that are no longer protected by copyright needs to have a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror. It’s still theft of intellectual property, no matter how you dress it up.
I would love it if people who ‘create’ AI books grew some balls and were honest about it in the front matter. It’s simple.
TITLE OF YOUR AI-GENERATED BOOK
BY (NAME OF AI TOOL USED)
Based on a prompt by (YOUR NAME)
Then I can avoid it.
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message 1:
by
Connie
(new)
Nov 10, 2025 05:30AM
Thank you, Mike! You have put into (clever) words what I think of AI. It frustrates me no end that my email accounts continually pressure me to let the "AI assistant" finish writing my sentence, or write the entire email for me, or condense a "long" email or document into a couple of sentences because AI thinks I'm too simpleminded to figure it out myself. People are being PUSHED to use AI. They're being encouraged to use AI as a shortcut that'll allow them more time to scroll whatever platform they're on. Before very long, humanity will become stupider and stupider until we cannot write or think at all! And I'm with you 100% on books and stories that are "written" using AI. The "authors" don't deserve to be called authors at all.
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PS - "This is Connie's fault?" Hahahahaha! You're the best, Mike!
Thank you, Mike, for stating it so clearly. I couldn't agree more. AI in the arts, whether it's writing, painting, composing/singing, or anything else that springs from HUMAN creativity is an abomination, as far as I'm concerned. I understand this makes me a "luddite" by contemporary standards, but so be it. We may be a doomed species.
