A Writer's Dilemma: AI-Written Books

There's a lot of buzz about all the possibilities AI is bringing to the table. From planning a vacation to writing HTML code, the sky appears to be the limit in what we humans might use it for.

As with all technology advancements, though, there are upsides and downsides.

Many writers out there have valid concerns about the ability to use AI to write books. In fact, this is already happening, with many AI books being published.

What's concerning is more than the livelihood possibly being taken from authors. The humanity of said books is being stripped away; the blood, sweat, and tears that go into writing a novel. For the reader, the pleasure of knowing that a human somewhere conjured up the ideas, characters, plot, and more from their brain, experiences, and, yes, even partialities to create a story for others to enjoy is in danger of being unknown and unappreciated.

As the book landscape changes, it might become difficult for readers to discern what is a human-written book and an AI-written book.

So it got me thinking: We need some kind of verification or certification that labels a book as being written by a human. Not only do writers and authors care about this, but no doubt, readers would rather know a human poured their heart into the art they're reading rather than a computer program someone fed commands to.

And so, I've started my own certification called "Written By A Human Certified." I've even created a nifty logo which is below.

Watermeloned: A Mystery Sci-Fi Novel will be my first WBAH Certified book. Being human and the story's writer, I can confirm without a doubt that it was written by a human. The ebook version will contain the certification when the book releases on June 27, 2023. The printed copy certifications will happen sometime over the summer.

The certification will be noted by having a dedicated front matter page of the book showing the logo and the following paragraph underneath:

• This book is certified as written by a human who dedicated their time, effort, research, and more to write a book with the uniqueness only a human can accomplish for your enjoyment and/or education. For a full list of WBAH Certified books, please visit the WBAH Certified Books page.

Over time, I will probably go back and certify my other books. There may be other authors interested in such a certification on their books. If that's you, I'd be happy to work through a process to certify your books. Please feel free to reach out to me via the contact page.