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

An author or publisher believes editing was done by a tool rather than a person.

What is at stake

Trust with authors, which is the whole of an editor's business.

Your evidence position

Tracked changes carry author names and timestamps, and editorial correspondence shows judgement being applied.

Do this first

Send the tracked-changes file. It shows what was changed, by whom, and when, at a level of detail no tool produces.

The trap

Legitimate AI use inside an editor's workflow being conflated with not doing the work. Disclose tool use plainly and describe what you contributed.

Related pages that will help

Editor 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.