Authors: what to do when you are accused of using AI

An agent, editor or publisher has raised concerns about a manuscript, sometimes after a book has already been scheduled.

What is at stake

A contract, a publication date, and a reputation that is much harder to repair than a manuscript.

Your evidence position

Manuscripts take months or years, and that history exists: versioned files, Scrivener backups, correspondence with beta readers, editorial letters. Publishers are also increasingly using model AI clauses, and the Authors Guild publishes guidance worth reading before you reply.

Do this first

Get ahead of it with a calm, documented account before a decision is made without you. Publishing disputes move fast and the reputational cost dwarfs the contractual one.

The trap

A single editor's impression hardening into a house position. Reply once, thoroughly, on the record.

Related pages that will help

Author disputes usually turn on the same few things: what a detector actually claims about its own accuracy, which pieces of evidence survive scrutiny, and whether a contract put the risk on you. The pages below cover each.