In direct competition with our screentime, literature is one of the classical arts that is most affected by social media’s boundless appetite for content. 

Only a little more than a third of American adults read at least one novel a year. The publishers competing for their attention often hope for a seal of approval from BookTok or an author with a pre-existing public persona that they can leverage into sales. Being in tune with the zeitgeist counts more than ever before.

Combine this with the meteoric rise in using generative AI, and it was only a matter of time before a controversy involving an author who relied too obviously on artificial intelligence. Publishers and readers alike were stunned when Mia Ballard’s Shy Girl was scrapped for publication in the US due to accusations that much of the novel was AI-generated.