‘Human Authored’ Book Certifications Are a Thing Now Thanks to AI

The era of AI slop is upon us. And if you thought your precious literature was safe, think again.

Amazon’s bestseller lists are loaded with AI-generated slop books churned out by unscrupulous scammers posing as human authors. It’s not always possible to tell a human-written book from an AI-generated novel based on the cover, but the Author’s Guild wants to change that.

They’re adding a “Human Authored” certification to the cover of books to assure readers that what they’re reading isn’t some hallucinated mishmash of tropes scraped together by generative AI and slapped together in the vague shape of a book.

Representing over 9,000 authors, The Authors Guild is one of the largest associations of writers in the United States. It’s home to some of the biggest names in publishing in various leadership positions. R.L. Stine is a member of its board, and it’s got crime author Lee Child and horror legend Stephen King on its advisory board.

Books Written By Actual Humans Will Now Have Their Own Certified Seal

The Guild has a vested interest in protecting the livelihoods of its members and any future members who seek the services and protections the Guild provides. Helping authors separate their hard work and dedication to their craft from the trash shoveled out by some lazy loser trying to make a quick buck is in the best interest of everyone involved.

Authors will be able to create a “Human Authored” certification on the Author’s Guild website. The certification will be available through a public database, allowing readers to easily verify whether a book was written by a human or AI. The program is limited just to books written by authors Guild members at the moment, but there are plans to expand it to include non-members and books with multiple authors.

The seal, which the Guild says will instantly inform a prospective book buyer that “the text of the book is written by a human and not generated by AI” does make some minor exceptions for AI apps used for spelling, grammar, brainstorming, or research.

It’s sad that it’s come to this. But if applying a little sticker or graphic to the front of a book lets people know that a human actually did write it, then it’s what needs to be done.