On Hachette's Internal Use of AI

On March 19^th Hachette Book Group made headlines for terminating a book contract with author Mia Ballard over her alleged use of AI in her novel Shy Girl; meanwhile, Hachette has negotiated with the AI editing software company Alighieria to integrate full-scope AI editorial correction tools into their production process. Hachette’s statement that it is “committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling”1 sounds a little less robust in view of these negotiations with Alighieria. Ballard herself claims that her novel was only “edited” using AI, so where exactly is the line to be drawn? Alighieria co-founder Antonio J. Rodríguez acknowledged that his company is in communication with Hachette, although he said he “can’t share much about the specifics of what we’ve been talking about together.” Representatives for Hachette did not respond to my request for comment, but an employee of Little, Brown, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, told me, “We are happy to learn about AI tools that help production editors with repetitive tasks.”