A horror story turned into a nightmare for Hachette Book Group.
After rabid Internet sleuths surmised that a recent horror novel “Shy Girl” by Mia Ballard contained large portions that were AI-generated, Hachette reportedly did its own investigation and decided to pull the book from shelves in UK and online–and to nix the planned publication in the United States.
The New York Times reports a quote from Hachette: “‘Hachette remains committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling,’ a Hachette spokeswoman said. She added that Hachette requires all submissions to be original to the authors, and asks authors to disclose to the company whether they are using A.I. during the writing process.”
But Ballard blamed an editor she said she hired to edit an earlier self-published version: “In an email to The Times late on Thursday night, Ballard denied using A.I. to write “Shy Girl,” contending that an acquaintance she hired to edit the self-published version of the novel had used A.I.”