nytimes.com

In an email to The Times late on Thursday night, Ballard denied using A.I. to write “Shy Girl,” contending that an acquaintance she hired to edit the self-published version of the novel had used A.I.

On the one hand, I love that publishers are taking a stand against AI. On the other, I’m increasingly nervous accusations are going to fly around with no regard for the truth and really hamper people’s ability to publish their writing. In this case, the author admits their editor used AI, so it’s a fine line. Did they use Grammarly to edit? Did they ask AI to help come up with alternate phrases or words? Ideally AI wouldn’t touch any creative pursuits, but if the author is telling the truth, they shouldn’t be the one coming under fire, but their self-published editor and Hachette should be bearing the blame—are they not putting the novel through their own rigorous editing process?