Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Cambridge Study Finds Half of UK Novelists Fear AI Will Replace Their Work

Authors push for opt‑in training with collective licensing after reporting unpaid use of their books.

Overview

  • Surveying 258 novelists and 74 industry professionals, researchers found 85% expect lower future earnings and 39% already report income loss linked to generative AI.
  • 59% say their writing was used to train large language models without consent or payment, prompting calls for transparency and remuneration.
  • UK creatives favor consent‑based data use, with 86% backing opt‑in training and 48% preferring collective licensing, as proposed opt‑out text‑and‑data mining faces criticism.
  • Romance, thriller and crime authors are seen as most exposed, with some warning of a two‑tier market where human‑written novels become premium products.
  • Platforms confront AI‑generated content flooding, with Amazon capping daily self‑publishing uploads and authors reporting rip‑offs and titles falsely listed under their names.