Here is a gift article link: 🔗 Horror Novel ‘Shy Girl’ Cancelled Over Suspected AI Use

I know that Shy Girl by Mia Ballard has faced AI allegations for a while, though it’s only been speculation, as AI use is extremely hard to prove. For those that haven’t been following the discourse about this book, I felt like frankie’s shelf did a great summary of it and personally I found the evidence pretty compelling: 🔗 i’m pretty sure this book is ai slop

I think this is the first time I’ve seen a major publisher (Hachette) actually pull a book from shelves, though, and it obviously took a pretty egregious example for them to consider it, plus the actual NYT approaching them with evidence of AI use and asking for a statement. Hachette will cancel the book’s planned US release and discontinue its existing UK edition, citing their commitment “original creative expression and storytelling.”

It seems this is also partly an issue of publishers mining for gems in self-published books that they can republish, where AI usage runs more rampant. Shy Girl was originally self-published, but it was pulled to be trad published, though its release date kept shifting. Seems laziness begets more laziness at all levels.

Do you think other publishers will follow suit? I think for this specific case, most people would probably see the cancellation as a good thing, but AI allegations are notoriously nebulous. I’ll point out that Mia Ballard has repeatedly denied using AI to write the book and said that this controversy has negatively impacted her life and mental health. Obviously, most people here want AI out of art, but that standard is hard to enforce and even accusations carry consequences. Still, though, part of me is glad to see a major publisher finally forced to make a call on AI usage, which will probably set some kind of precedent going forward. Thoughts?

ETA: I should’ve also linked the NYT article where they detailed their investigation into the AI claims on this book. Short answer is they consulted experts and ran it through many AI detection tools. Here is the article: 🔗 AI is Writing Fiction. Publishers are Unprepared.