The future of authorship: why human voice and trust still matter in an AI world

As AI-written books and synthetic content multiply, the real differentiator will be an author’s human voice, lived experience and the trust readers place in their name.

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I write about various issues of interest to me that I want to bring to the reader’s attention. While my main work is in Artificial Intelligence and technology, I also cover areas around politics, education, and the future of our children.

In the last year, we have seen a wave of headlines about AI-written books quietly filling online catalogues. There are “expert” guides on health topics likely churned out by models, self-help titles that read like stitched-together blog posts, and a growing anxiety among human authors. A recent study from the University of Cambridge found that more than half of published writers fear being replaced by AI, and many believe their work has already been used to train models without consent or payment.

At the same time, the head of Waterstones has publicly said that while they “instinctively disdain” AI books, they would stock them if clearly labelled and if readers genuinely wanted them. In that tension lies an important truth: in a world of abundant synthetic content, the long-term value shifts away from raw text and towards voice, brand and trust.

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND

For most of the history of publishing, authorship was a human assumption. When we picked up a novel or a history book, we did not wonder whether a machine had written it. We might question the arguments or the politics, but we took for granted that there was a person behind the pages: someone whose life, judgment and blind spots shaped the words. Even when ghost-writers or heavy-handed editors were involved, there was still a human core to the work.

Generative AI disrupts that assumption. It can now produce text that is grammatically fluent, tonally plausible and, at a glance, “good enough” for many readers. Platforms like Amazon have been flooded with low-cost, AI-generated titles. Some bookshops and publishers are pushing back with “human only” certifications or internal policies, while others quietly allow a mixture of AI-assisted and fully synthetic work to flow into their catalogues.

The debate is not just about technology; it is about what we think we are buying when we buy a book, and what we want to protect for future generations of readers.

INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS

In this environment, the content itself is no longer scarce. What becomes scarce is the human perspective. Anyone can ask an AI to generate a generic book on leadership or wellness. Fewer people can write honestly about leading a team through a crisis, or living with a specific illness, or raising a child in a digital world, drawing on real experience and vulnerability. That distinction matters, especially in non-fiction. Readers are not just looking for information; they are looking for someone to trust.

This is where the idea of author as brand moves from marketing cliché to survival strategy. A trusted author brand is not merely a logo on a website. It is a pattern of behaviour over time: telling the truth when it is inconvenient, acknowledging uncertainty, correcting mistakes, and being clear about where AI has helped and where it has not. In a world where some books may quietly be synthetic, the authors who are explicit about their process and ethics will stand out.

Fiction faces its own version of this challenge. Yes, AI can imitate styles and spin out plots. But great novels are not just sequences of events; they are expressions of a particular mind and sensibility. When readers say they “love” a certain writer, they are responding to a consistent voice that they recognise across books. That relationship does not vanish because AI exists. If anything, it becomes more important. When my son and I read a book together, part of what I want to pass on to him is not only the story, but the sense that there is a person behind it, grappling with the same questions we do.

IMPLICATIONS

For authors, this moment is both threatening and clarifying. The threat is obvious: AI can produce a flood of cheap competitors and blur the lines of originality. The clarifying element is that it forces us to ask what we uniquely bring. Lived experience, deep research, local knowledge, moral courage and a distinctive voice are not easily faked. Building a genuine relationship with readers – through books, talks, newsletters or social media – becomes more important than ever. It is not enough to publish; you have to show up as a person.

For publishers and booksellers, the implications are strategic. Some will lean into AI as a volume play, flooding digital shelves with low-cost content. Others will differentiate themselves as curators of human work, emphasising transparency and trust. Clear labelling of AI-generated material, fair treatment of training data, and active support for real writers will all become part of the brand proposition. Physical bookshops, especially in countries like South Africa, where reading culture is fragile, can position themselves as places where human voices are discovered and nurtured rather than drowned out.

For readers and parents, this is ultimately a question about the future we want for our children. Do we want them to grow up on a diet of anonymous, synthetic books optimised for clicks and keywords, or on stories crafted by people with real things to say? There is nothing wrong with using AI as a tool to improve clarity or accessibility. The danger lies in pretending that a machine-generated book is equivalent to a human life poured into words.

CLOSING TAKEAWAY

The arrival of AI-written books does not mean the end of authorship; it means the end of complacency about what authorship is. In an age where machines can produce convincing text on demand, the real value of a writer lies not in typing speed but in character, experience and the trust they build with readers over time. That trust cannot be automated. It is earned slowly, lost quickly and, once broken, hard to regain.

If we care about the quality of our public conversation and the stories we hand to the next generation, we need to support and champion human authors who are willing to be transparent about their use of AI, honest about their limitations and brave enough to bring their full selves to the page. Those are the names that will matter long after the novelty of AI-generated books has faded.

Author Bio: Johan Steyn is a prominent AI thought leader, speaker, and author with a deep understanding of artificial intelligence’s impact on business and society. He is passionate about ethical AI development and its role in shaping a better future. Find out more about Johan’s work at https://www.aiforbusiness.net