Just over half (51%) of published novelists in the UK say that artificial intelligence is likely to end up entirely replacing their work as fiction writers, a new report from the University of Cambridge has found.
Close to two-thirds (59%) of novelists say they know their work has been used to train AI Large Language Models (LLMs) without permission or payment.
Over a third (39%) of novelists say their income has already taken a hit from generative AI, for example due to loss of other work that facilitates novel writing. Most (85%) novelists expect their future income to be driven down by AI.
In new research for Cambridge’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy (MCTD), Dr Clementine Collett surveyed 258 published novelists earlier this year, as well as 74 industry insiders – from commissioning editors to literary agents – to gauge how AI is viewed and used in the world of British fiction. *
Genre authors are considered the most vulnerable to displacement by AI, according to the report, with two-thirds (66%) of all those surveyed listing romance authors as “extremely threatened”, followed closely by writers of thrillers (61%) and crime (60%).
Despite this, overall sentiment in UK fiction is not anti-AI, with 80% of respondents agreeing that AI offers benefits to parts of society. In fact, a third of novelists (33%) use AI in their writing process, mainly for “non-creative” tasks such as information search.
However, the report outlines profound concerns from the cornerstone of a publishing industry that contributes an annual £11bn to the UK economy, and exports more books than any other country in the world.
Literary creatives feel that copyright laws have not been respected or enforced since the emergence of generative AI. They call for informed consent and fair remuneration for the use of their work, along with transparency from big tech companies, and support in getting it from the UK government.