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CultureFading · day 4

HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette quietly use AI without author consent, Wired finds

An investigation into three Big Five publishers finds LLMs generating cover art, publicity copy and agent emails as staff are pushed to champion the tools.

newest coverage 11h agosummary written 3d ago24 pieces95 likes & upvotes1 comments NewswiresMastodonXHacker NewsGoogle NewsRedditBluesky

What to know

  • Workers at HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette describe widespread AI use for publicity copy, cover art, marketing, and agent emails without public disclosure or author consent.
  • The findings contrast with publishers' public anti-AI posture, including lawsuits against Google and cancellations of authors suspected of using LLMs.
  • HarperCollins staff say internal objections to AI's legal, ethical, and environmental costs were dismissed by leadership as 'the cost of doing business.'
  • An editor says many AI-related book cancellations never become public, suggesting the disclosed cases are 'just the tip of the iceberg.'

“at least three of the Big Five US book publishers—HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette—have been quietly incorporating AI tools into their publishing processes without public disclosures or author consent.”

Wired, reporting outlet · Wired ↗ · Oct 8

HarperCollins Big Five publisher named in investigationSimon & Schuster Big Five publisher named in investigationHachette Big Five publisher named in investigationAnthropic AI vendorWired Reporting outlet

HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette quietly use AI without author consent, Wired finds
wired.com

How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 4 pieces in one hour at Oct 9, 2 PM; 24 pieces over 4 days (6 articles · 16 posts · 2 comments) Oct 9, 2 PM — 4 pieces · 4 articles — Google News 2, Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Oct 9, 3 PM — quietOct 9, 4 PM — quietOct 9, 5 PM — quietOct 9, 6 PM — quietOct 9, 7 PM — quietOct 9, 8 PM — quietOct 9, 9 PM — quietOct 9, 10 PM — quietOct 9, 11 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 10, 12 AM — quietOct 10, 1 AM — quietOct 10, 2 AM — quietOct 10, 3 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 10, 4 AM — quietOct 10, 5 AM — quietOct 10, 6 AM — quietOct 10, 7 AM — quietOct 10, 8 AM — 4 pieces · 2 articles · 2 posts — Newswires 2, Bluesky 1, X 1Oct 10, 9 AM — 3 pieces · 3 posts — Mastodon 3Oct 10, 10 AM — quietOct 10, 11 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Oct 10, 12 PM — quietOct 10, 1 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 10, 2 PM — quietOct 10, 3 PM — quietOct 10, 4 PM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Mastodon 2Oct 10, 5 PM — quietOct 10, 6 PM — quietOct 10, 7 PM — quietOct 10, 8 PM — quietOct 10, 9 PM — quietOct 10, 10 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Oct 10, 11 PM — quietOct 11, 12 AM — quietOct 11, 1 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 11, 2 AM — quietOct 11, 3 AM — quietOct 11, 4 AM — quietOct 11, 5 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 11, 6 AM — quietOct 11, 7 AM — 1 piece · 1 comment — Reddit 1Oct 11, 8 AM — quietOct 11, 9 AM — quietOct 11, 10 AM — quietOct 11, 11 AM — quietOct 11, 12 PM — quietOct 11, 1 PM — 1 piece · 1 comment — Reddit 1Oct 11, 2 PM — quietOct 11, 3 PM — quietOct 11, 4 PM — quietOct 11, 5 PM — quietOct 11, 6 PM — quietOct 11, 7 PM — quietOct 11, 8 PM — quietOct 11, 9 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 11, 10 PM — quietOct 11, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 3 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 6 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quietToday, 8 AM — quietToday, 9 AM — quietToday, 10 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Today, 11 AM — quietToday, 12 PM — quietToday, 1 PM — quietToday, 2 PM — quietToday, 3 PM — quietToday, 4 PM — quietToday, 5 PM — quietToday, 6 PM — quietToday, 7 PM — quietToday, 8 PM — quietToday, 9 PM — quiet 12
Oct 10Oct 11yesterdaytodaynow · 10:29 PM ET
  1. 2

    Readers react on social media, calling AI use a threat to publishing

    Mastodon users shared the Wired story with critical commentary, framing the undisclosed AI adoption as part of a broader erosion of human roles in the industry.

    “AI companies and CEOs of all kinds are really trying to destroy a lot of things. As if it were not enough that they destroy an awful lot of books, now they start destroying every single human component of publishing.”
    — errorbody@mastodon.social
    • WeirdWriter@caneandable.social

      I wish this was talked about more in articles such as this, but these publishers are also taking your work and working out quiet training deals behind your back. Some Indie publishers are doing this too. Remember, publishing is not your friend, and indie publishers are still a business. If you have an agent, have them help protect you…

      WeirdWriter@caneandable.socialMastodon3d ago11▲view on Mastodon ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 12 posts in this stretch

    • Ever heard of intergenerational skill degradation? Kids who grew up with tablets in classrooms and smart phones not knowing how a regular computer works for example. These kids growing up using chapgbt writing for them are the future generations of authors.

      CommanderZx2r/technology2d agoview on r/technology ↗
    • lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com

      "But behind the scenes, at least three of the Big Five US book publishers—HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette—have been quietly incorporating AI tools into their publishing processes without public disclosures or author consent." https://www. wired.com/story/book-publisher s-are-quietly-using-more-ai-staff-are-revolting/

      lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.comMastodon3d ago11▲view on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  2. 1

    Wired reports undisclosed AI use across three Big Five publishers

    Based on interviews with more than two dozen anonymous workers, Wired details how HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette use LLMs for publicity copy, back-cover text, cover art, marketing materials, and agent emails without public disclosure or author consent.

    “It was such a slap in the face…”
    — HarperCollins employee
    1. 1 outlet Dozens of staff at HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette: without author consent, publishers are quietly using AI to make back-cover copy, cover art, more

      first by Wired, 3d ago

  3. background

    Staff concerns about AI are dismissed as 'the cost of doing business' — When HarperCollins employees raised legal, ethical, and environmental objections to AI use at a brainstorming session, a meeting leader dismissed the concerns; the company soon added a statement to its internal employee portal minimizing AI's environmental impact.

  4. background

    HarperCollins leadership buys Claude licenses, launches 'AI Champions' — Senior leaders purchased Claude licenses from Anthropic, then 'voluntold' dozens of junior- and senior-level staff to become 'AI Champions' tasked with finding use cases in monthly brainstorming sessions.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 2 outlets Book Publishers Are Quietly Using More AI. Staff Are Revolting

    first by Mastodon, 4d ago · also Wired

and 1 smaller piece

What people are saying 8 voices from 2 sites · best of 12 · verbatim