Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to
share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh.
This month, I’m delighted to cohost with Ronel Janse van Vuuren, JH Moncrieff, and Jemima Pett! To read other contributors, click here
October’s optional question: Many people are calling for
writers who use AI to disclose it. Most who employ ghostwriters do not admit it. Do you think authors who use ghostwriters should have to disclose that, too?
My sense is that ghostwriters usually write for people who are
not writers themselves but have a story they want to tell. Ghostwriters enter
into contractual agreements, get paid for their writing, and understand that
they won’t necessarily receive credit for it. It’s a business agreement for which they are compensated. They go into the process with their eyes open, so
to speak.
My experience reading stories that have been ghostwritten
has been mainly memoir, where the subject of the story shares their history with a
ghostwriter, who uses their writing skill to shape that information in a way that pleases readers. I suspect that most people who read, for example,
celebrity memoir, know that there was someone behind the scenes writing, or collaborating
with the subject, to make sure the story is written well. To test out that
hypotheses (and I confess to using AI here), I searched recent memoirs that were
ghostwritten. Several examples came up, (Michelle Obama, Prince Harry, Michael
Jackson). Each example mentioned the ghostwriter by name. I guess what I’m trying
to say is I don’t think people who use ghostwriters are trying to keep it a secret. Ghostwriters employ their craft to
earn a living and get paid for the service they provide. Similar to a copywriter, or a technical
writer, a ghostwriter uses their talent and skill in the way they choose. Seems
fair enough to me.
I feel differently about AI. It seems like cheating to me if
a writer employs artificial intelligence to concept or create and/or write a
story. We already know that AI improves itself by replicating styles of previously
published works, work that was created by humans and in some cases, theoretically subject to copyright
laws. To me, in that regard using AI to “create” is as bad as plagiarizing. An
author doesn’t deserve credit if they’ve used artificial intelligence to develop
the story, the same way no writer should receive credit for “borrowing” another
human writer’s story.
That said, I fear in the not too distant future, writing a book using a human brain will be considered old fashioned. Think seventy-five years ago and riding in a horse and buggy instead of driving a car. I suspect folks in the future may say, "Why write using a brain when it can be done so much more efficiently using AI?"
Ugh!
What are your thoughts on ghostwriting vs. AI?
26 comments:
Good point they have entered an agreement. They should get at least credit for it in a by line or something though.
Thanks for co-hosting today!
I personally know authors who utilize ghostwriters for fiction. It's not only for memoirs. The ghostwriter gets to earn income from their writing without dealing with the publishing and marketing side of the business. The author who polishes the work benefits from producing more books per year than they could produce on their own.
As far as AI, it's not the same as copying someone else's writing. It learns from copyrighted works, but it doesn't pull whole sentences from them, as some people think it does. LLMs predict what comes next a few letters at a time, not even in whole words. Court decisions are falling along this line, as well - that as long as the LLM was trained on legally acquired works (as opposed to pirated copies) generative AI is not plagiarism.
I think the finished product is what matters, so long as the process doesn't violate any laws.
Thanks for co-hosting!
I agree with you that ghostwriters enter a contract and understand what they're getting into. But I think celebrities and other famous people, who are likely the ones using the ghostwriters, should give their ghostwriter some credit on the cover or in the acknowledgments. Thanks so much for co-hosting this month!
I think these are two wildly different scenarios. I do not care about ghost writers but I do about AI. Ghost writers, who are humans, get paid for their skill. The corporations who own and run AI companies put writers out of business (with ghost writers being high on the chopping block), use up scarce resources and have literally no skin in the game.
AI is a Big NO! for writer's using it in their books. I agree with you about ghostwriters, but still feel they should received recognition.
Also, thank you for co-hosting!!!
Hi,
one of my fears is also that people will forget, how to write a book that is filled with emotions.
Have a great day,
Shalom shalom
I think giving the ghost writer credit is the right thing to do. I presume the ghost writer is using AI to speed along the process. The ghost writer has the final say and must fully edit the AI suggestions.
Thank you for co-hosting today!
I think celebrities should name their ghostwriter. We know they didn't write it. I mean, there is no way Snookie ever wrote a sentence that made sense, let alone a book!
That horse-and-buggy metaphor is a really striking way to look at the future of the industry, even if it is a bit disheartening to think about! Like you, I really hope the irreplaceable spark of the human brain doesn't become "old-fashioned." I love your point that ghostwritten memoirs are usually an open collaboration rather than a secret. Great post for this month's topic!
Ronel the Mythmaker
And that's where I'm at too. Ghostwriters are compenstated. AI robbery (from those whose works were pirated) is not.
Totally agree with you. Now if there was a pill that could make my brain create and spit out stuff as fast as AI can...I swallow it.
I agree. Why bother to call yourself a "writer" if you let a non-human entity create the story for you? Ghostwriting is absolutely a different animal, and you've laid that out clearly.
Sadly I think you might be right about the future of writing. Eventually not much original thinking will evolve using AI and we'll get a lot of rehashing. In a way though, with human writers using their brains, it sometimes seems the same now.
Lee
Old fashioned? Lordy...Certainly a sobering thought, though. If human creativity ever becomes obsolete, we might as well give up the ghost too:-) Hopefully, the AI machine will run out of information before that ever happens. Thanks for co-hosting!
Re: AI - it is a battle we already lost. AI will be used more and more in the future, and I only hope that if AI writes the entire book, it will be disclosed somewhere on the cover.
Re: ghostwriters, the are 2 sides of this story. One - you mentioned it: a contract. Another is trickier. Sometimes, when a bestselling author retires, his publisher buys their name and use it on future book covers, written by ghostwriters. The name sells the book, and that is all those publishers care about. Nobody could force them to disclose that the book was actually written by a ghostwriter.
Thanks for the good information, Liza. I think there will always be some human writers, because writers have a compulsion inside themselves to write and share their stories. Thanks for co-hosting today!
Your post neatly distinguishes between ghost writing and using AI. I'm a little relieved that so many agree with you that we should NOT use AI to replace our own thinking and writing. What's left still seems slippery. Revising? Drafting? Marketing? So much to learn at what risk?
I don't think that AI will ever replace writers. There are always going to be people who write because they love to write. Plus, I've never read a story written by AI before, but I've heard that they're not that great.
As I'm reading these posts I'm finding that the ghostwriter question is more nuanced than I was giving credit for. I still feel that no one should get to claim a book was written by someone who didn't write it. Then I think about those childhood series I read so avidly (Hardy Boys, Bobsey Twins... yeah, I'm old), which were written by a variety of people sometimes over many years and published under one pseudonym. But no actual person was taking credit for those books, so... it's all more murky than I thought when I whipped off my post!
Enjoying the various thoughts on AI. I wish I had an eye on the future. But Im sure AI will still be around and we'll alĺ have the same conversations as today. Thanks for co hosting!
Thanks for cohosting this month's question, Liza. Yes, AI and Ghostwriting are two different things in the realm of creative writing. And yes. I've seen memoirs written for well-known celebrities by others. Credit is usually given. This is a huge topic for sure. Have a great day!
In memoirs, I want to know if ghostwritten. It might make important years sound almost too smooth. I'd rather have "messier" writing that sounds sincere and heartfelt.
As for A.I. - ugh. I feel sad for teachers who are trying to teach writing and receive slop or obviously regurgitated glop.
I admit to being an older person shaking her fist in the air and screaming, "No!"
AI makes me crazy.
Interesting thoughts about ghostwriters. As long as they consent to not being named (and are hopefully well-compensated), I guess it's okay not to be recognized. The horror of all human writing being replaced by A.I.! Thank you for co-hosting.
I agree, the two are completely different. Ghostwriting is legit and human. Writer who use AI images should disclose it if they are aware. Writers who use AI to "help" them write are are not writers at all. Sorry, but that's how I feel. AI will ruin publishing unless there are guardrails and firewalls erected. Quickly!
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