Overview
- The anonymous survey covered 258 novelists, 32 literary agents, and 42 fiction publishing professionals in the UK.
- 59% said their books were used to train large language models without permission or payment, and 39% reported income losses already linked to generative AI.
- 85% expect future earnings to decline, with 51% fearing their work could be displaced entirely by AI.
- Genre writers were judged most vulnerable, with romance (66%), thriller (61%), and crime (60%) authors rated as extremely threatened.
- Participants urged transparency from major AI firms and government support, with many proposing industry-run collective licensing.