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Nearly half of published novelists in Britain struggle with this deep fear artificial intelligence can completely usurp their creative workA new report reveals.
Conclusion, from A Cambridge University The study anonymously surveyed 258 novelists, 32 literary agents, and 42 fiction publishing professionals. Paint a clear picture of a changing industry.
59 percent of novelists reported that their work has been used to train large language models (LLMs) without permission or payment.
This unauthorized use is already impacting livelihoods, with more than a third (39 percent) saying their income Suffered losses due to generative AI, Often due to the loss of other works that supported his novel writing.
The outlook remains bleak for many, as 85 percent anticipate a decline in earnings in the future, and 51 percent apparently fear that “AI will completely displace their work”.
Dr Clementine Collett, a report author at Cambridge’s Minderoo Center for Technology and Democracy, highlighted the widespread concern.
“There is widespread concern among novelists that generative AI trained on large amounts of fiction will undermine the value of writing and compete with human novelists,” he said.
Dr. Collett said that “Many novelists felt uncertain whether there would be an appetite for complex, long-form writing in the coming years,” emphasizing that “novels are a core part of the creative industries and are the basis for countless films, television shows, and video games.”
The report finds genre writers particularly vulnerable, with 66 percent of respondents listing romance writers as “extremely at risk”, followed by thriller (61 percent) and crime (60 percent) writers.
Some participants also envisioned a dystopian future where human-written novels would become a “luxury item” amid a flood of cheap, AI-generated fiction.
Despite these concerns, the overall sentiment within UK fiction is not entirely anti-AI, with 80 percent acknowledging its social benefits. A third of novelists (33 percent) currently use AI for “non-creative” tasks such as information searching.
However, literary creators are united in calling for stronger copyright enforcement, informed consent, and fair remuneration for the use of their work. They also demand government support as well as transparency from big tech companies.
Professor Gina Neff, executive director of the Minderoo Centre, stressed: “Our creative industries are not expendable collateral damage in the race to develop AI. They are national treasures worth protecting.”
The vast majority (86 percent) advocate an “opt-in” principle for AI training, while nearly half (48 percent) favor collective licensing managed by an industry body.
The report, published in partnership with the Institute for the Future of Work and titled The Impact of Generative AI on Fiction, will be published on the Minderoo Center for Technology and Democracy website: https://www.mctd.ac.uk/