The Authors in Britain launches an initiative to distinguish human authors' works from those produced by AI.

[Image caption: An AI-generated representation]

"Human Authored": A new label to differentiate real books from AI-generated works

The Society of Authors in the UK has launched an initiative to help identify works written by humans in a market flooded with AI-generated books.

This is the first initiative of its kind launched by a trade association in the UK. It allows authors to register their books and upload the "Human Authored" label to be placed on the back cover.

The Society explained that the lack of any government regulation requiring technology companies to label AI-generated works has made it difficult for readers to distinguish between books written by humans and works produced by AI systems trained on copyrighted material without permission or payment, according to a report in The Guardian.

This initiative mirrors a similar one launched by the Authors Guild in the US in early 2025. Novelist Tracy Chevalier launched the initiative and its label at the London Book Fair on Tuesday.

This comes as thousands of authors, including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory, and Richard Osman, have published a blank book in protest against AI companies using their work without permission. Titled "Don't Steal This Book," the book contains only a list of the authors' names.

In a recent survey, Anna Ganley, chief executive of the Society of Authors, said that 82% of the society's author members were interested in adopting the "Authorized by a Human" label.

She added: "Since generative AI platforms became prevalent, the Society of Authors has been fighting to defend authors' interests and protect creators from the outright theft of their work by AI technology companies training their chatbots."

She continued: "Our new labeling system is an important interim solution to protect and promote human creativity in the absence of AI-labeled content on the market."