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Exclusive: J.K. Rowling, Anne Rice, and Mark Twain have all ventured into the realm of pseudonyms.
What might surprise many is that Dr. Seuss was part of this club, too.
This week, Cambridge University unveiled research indicating that over half of the UK’s published novelists—51 percent, to be precise—are concerned that AI could eventually replace them.
The internet is already awash with AI-generated content posing as authentic literature. However, Queensland fantasy author Darryl King remains unfazed by the idea that these works could threaten his livelihood.
Publishing his In All Jest series under the pseudonym D.E. King, he shared with nine.com.au his insights on the potential ramifications of ChatGPT’s presence in the literary world.
“I think all authors are struggling to find ways to market themselves and to stand out now already without AI,” King explained.
“It’s a bit like music where as authors, we have to go and do more signings and appearances at libraries to validate we’re real.”
King said this has translated into book buyers wanting to know the author more intimately.
This means no fake name and no shadowy anonymous figure, instead of a real-life author headshot.
It could impact romance writers, who typically use pen names to preserve anonymity from their real-life acquaintances, the most.
“I think it’s about those in-person real events where you can see them,” King explained.
“So even if I’m buying from America, I can see the events that this guy goes to in Australia and there’s might be a video or a photo from it, I’m more likely to believe they’re real.”
The publishing industry needs to adapt to this pressure from AI, King believes.
This could mean more money being used to promote authors on social media and in-person.
“Perhaps that’s what the publishing platforms need to do… to validate author profiles more,” King added.
At the moment, some AI paragraphs can be easy to pick out.
Take the dreaded em dash, for example, which has become an AI calling card.
King said AI has muddied the waters – he has a copy editor from the UK who has always preferred this grammar style.
“He regularly puts em dashes into my work,” he laughed.
“We expect that, that it’s AI and it might not be.
“So how do you tell my stories more human than another story? Is it because it’s got typos occasionally?”
King also has a day job as a web developer where he ironically often uses and learns about AI.
He said e-books were already a reason why many authors can’t support themselves financially on books alone.
AI is probably going to make it harder, he predicts.
“I think it was already difficult. Like other industries, we get competition from external, cheaper sources,” he said.
“But I think you have to weather that. You have to find things that help you stand out.
“We all hope that people will start to filter out the rubbish.”