US Authors Guild Launches 'Human Authored' Certification to Distinguish AI-Free Books

Human Authored: How to know the book you're reading isn't AI-generated

How do you know what you're reading? The Human Authored online portal uses a specially designed logo on book covers and promotional materials to acertain that the work comes from 'human intellect'. We live in an increasingly AI-saturated world, and many creatives have been sounding the alarm when it comes to creative and existential threats AI models represent. It has come to the point where differentiation is needed between cultural works created by human minds and those generated by AI. The Authors Guild, a US body representing writers, knows the score and has set up an online portal for members to certify that their books "emanated from the human intellect" and not from artificial intelligence. The guild, a non-profit which represents published novelists and nonfiction writers, is calling the initiative "Human Authored." "The Human Authored initiative 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," guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said in a statement. "Authors can still qualify if they use AI as a tool for spell-checking 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." The certificate is a simple, round logo with two boldfaced words inside: "Human Authored." According to the guild, authors can have their work certified by logging into the portal, entering information about their book and signing a licensing agreement that will enable them to use the specially designed logo on "book covers, spines, or promotional materials." The guild plans to register the "Human Authored" logo with the US Patent and Trademark Office and eventually open the system to non-members. It remains to be seen whether similar themes will be made available to authors in Europe. Only last year, the UK's Society of Authors (SoA) conducted a survey that found more than a third of translators had lost work due to generative AI. The UK's largest trade union for writers and translators said that there is an "urgent need" for government regulation of AI tools.

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

The Human Authored online portal allows members to register their book and use a specially designed logo on covers and promotional materials 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 inBritain, 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.

Books Written Without AI Can Now Receive New 'Human Authored' Certification

As AI-generated media enters the mainstream, there is hope that consumers will put a premium on handmade works. The Authors Guild, one of the largest associations of writers in America, is launching a new project to certify books that have been written by a human rather than a machine. The new "Human Authored" certification will help authors distinguish their work and let readers know what they are readingâ€"and paying forâ€"is something that was actually produced with genuine effort and creativity. Because who wants to waste their limited time reading a book the author did not put any care into? The new certification is limited to members of the Authors Guild and books authored by a single writer, but the association says it will expand to non-Guild members in the future. Anyone will be able to visit a public database to see books that have been given human certification. To qualify, books must be almost entirely written by humans, with a small exception for the use of AI-powered grammar tools like Grammarly. This is good in the sense that readers ought to know they are not about to read soulless, generated slop. At the same time, the new certification assumes that AI-generated content will be the default going forward, which feels depressing. It is sad that some people believe AI could be as good, if not better, than humans at creating works of art. Generative AI cannot relate to people or produce original thoughtsâ€"it scrapes the web for information already out there and parrots what it has learned from others. Similar to an actual parrot reciting words it has heard before, it does not feel like a chatbot's output has any soul. But out of financial motivation or sheer laziness, we have already seen Amazon inundated with AI-generated books, and recently a popular romance writer was caught using AI when they inadvertently left chatbot output in a newly published book. AI is coming to books whether we like it or not. Books with AI should be the ones that have to identify themselves, but it is probably a lot easier to get human authors to sign up for labeling their books, rather than trying to go to every book publisher and harangue them into identifying what within their libraries is AI-generated. Anyone who has been on X or LinkedIn recently has surely seen the flood of generic content that has flooded those platforms. The content often has a similar style and structure signaling it has been generated by one of the more popular AI models, and contributes nothing new to the conversation. Comments such as, "The rise of generative AI raises serious questions about the future of labor that should be considered" are vacuous and contribute nothing new to the conversation. One cannot relate to a bot that does not have its own lived experiences to share. At a time when there is immense anxiety over the possibility of CEOs using AI to cheaply replace workers (even if it is not as good), particularly in white-collar fields, there is a belief that innate human creativity will become more important than ever. Proponents of AI say that it can help make people more efficient, but ultimately a human will need to remain in the loop to imbue work with a soul that only a human can provide. Similar to handmade, artisan crafts, people will be willing to pay a premium for creative works that have been made by hand, or so the thinking goes. Thankfully, the U.S. Copyright Office issued guidance this month that works created solely using generative AI cannot be copyrighted, because the author does not have enough control over the outputs of AI models. “No matter how many times a prompt is revised and resubmitted, the final output reflects the user’s acceptance of the AI system’s interpretation, rather than authorship of the expression it contains,†a report from the office says. Human-created works with AI elements can still be copyrighted as a whole, but any aspects of the work that were created using AI will not be protected. “The Human Authored initiative isn’t about rejecting technology â€" it’s about creating transparency, acknowledging the reader’s desire for human connection, and celebrating the uniquely human elements of storytelling,†guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said in a statement to The Verge.