The topic of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be at the center of seemingly every conversation and news story. I, for one, read or listen to something about AI on a daily basis. From trying to find consciousness inside AI, to books being rejected because of undisclosed AI content, to legal cases where AI logs are being used to demonstrate that a person is liable for a crime, AI seems to be everywhere.

The latest cycle started last week while listening to the Life of Try podcast by Wynne Leon. Wynne invited brand strategist Nancy Martira. It was a great discussion about branding, how to promote yourself, and, of course, the subject of books came up. During the discussion, Nancy mentioned how AI-generated designs in book covers could affect an author’s credibility. In today’s world, that is probably true. A reader picks up a book and sees that the cover was produced by AI; the reader could then assume that the book was also written using AI. That’s not a far-fetched assumption, considering that I read an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday titled “AI Has Plunged the Book Publishing Industry Into Utter Chaos.” The article discusses how a book agent pulled the plug on a multi-million-dollar book deal because they could not verify with certainty that the book was written by the author. It also mentioned that Hachette Book Group canceled Mia Ballard’s book Shy Girl, which was scheduled to be released in the United States, because there were rumors that AI was used to write the book.

Also, over the weekend, while visiting some friends, we were discussing court cases where lawyers were submitting legal documents created with AI that contained fake case citations. We also talked about privacy issues, where criminal defendants’ interactions with AI platforms are not protected by attorney-client privilege, and the content of those interactions was presented in cases as evidence against the defendants.

AI is here to stay, that’s for sure. The technological advances are way too great to ignore, from solving difficult mathematical problems to contributing to medical breakthroughs.

As with all technologies, it’s up to us to use this new tool wisely.

Returning to the subject of books, I think bad books, written by AI or not, will always exist. I have read my share of them over the years, long before AI came to fame. When I read a bad book, the author’s name goes on my blacklist, and I never read one of their books again. In my mind, there are too many good books out there and too little time to read them. So you read, assess, and move on to the next one.

I told another blogger friend not too long ago that I don’t mind reading an AI-created article. As a reader, I’m more interested in the information than in who wrote it. That doesn’t mean I’m going to read a book about how to perform brain surgery written by a person without the right credentials using AI. Even if you say, “You did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!” like in the old commercials. Of course, I’m always going to check the sources regardless of who writes the article or book, so I don’t have a problem with AI. But I can understand the damage that books written solely by AI can cause. I’m thinking about market saturation and fewer opportunities for authors because not only do they need to compete in an already saturated market, but they also need to prove that their work is truly theirs. This will cause a lot of pain in both the short and long term.

While reading the Wall Street Journal article, I learned that the Authors Guild has created a certification called “Human Authored,” which “means that the text of the book was written by a human and not generated by AI, with the exception of minimal uses such as AI applications that check spelling and grammar or for research.”¹ This comes with a cost of $10, or it is free if you are an Authors Guild member. The part about authors using AI to check grammar, spelling, or for research is definitely okay in my view. I think this is a good process to use before sending a manuscript to an editor.

I think this is where integrity comes into play. I understand that people are looking for ways to generate income, and some think that writing a book is the way to do it. Certainly, this is absolutely fine as long as you have something important to share and truly believe that you can add value to society. But for a person to write a prompt on an AI platform asking it to write a book about X, Y, and Z and then publish it as if they wrote it is wrong. A person who does that is destroying the dreams and goals of real authors, some of whom are struggling financially in pursuit of those dreams. Now, AI-generated books are adding another economic burden to authors who may need to pay extra fees to add a Human Authored certification to their books.

I think all of this is just ridiculous, and real authors just need to keep writing and publishing their stories without worrying too much about AI. Good books will continue to flourish regardless. Bad books, written by AI or not, will go down a black hole and disappear into the ether.

I’m sure people have all kinds of opinions about this subject, so your comments are welcome. I’m not thinking about writing a book anytime soon, but I would like to hear from you and learn about the different perspectives out there.

One more thing. I’m currently reading the last book on my 2026 reading list. I’m really enjoying These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore. So I’m adding more books to my 2026 reading list. Of course, I’m not going to finish all the books, and I will move whatever is left to my 2027 list, but I’m really excited about my reading progress. Here is what I’m reading next.

Thanks to a recommendation by Dr. Gerald Stein, I’m also looking at enrolling in the University of Chicago Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults, a four-year program that explores great works of literature, philosophy, history, and social thought.² I’m attending an information session next week before making my final decision. So my reading list will continue to grow for sure.