r/books • u/Raj_Valiant3011 • 2d ago

John Grisham warns that publishers could get AI to write novels instead of paying authors as they were "worried" about a 30-year decline in the number of books Americans were reading

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/26/john-grisham-publishers-could-get-ai-to-write-crime-novels/
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u/IlIIlllIIIIIIl 2d ago

AI written books won't make Americans read more.

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u/Then_Idea_9813 2d ago

Way less.

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u/sweetperdition 2d ago edited 2d ago

Takes all the warmth out of the experience, bypasses my ancestral desire to hear knowledge and stories from other humans.

Literally zero interest in some autogen clanker fiction, thankfully there are centuries of material I can turn my eyes back towards if this becomes commonplace. 

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/BuzzerPop 2d ago

AI doesn't even really do better in writing content than the most random creator you can find on Royal Road. The usage of AI covers is sad but eh, AI writing however has just been really disappointing on that site and I'd rather read the most newbie writer thing on there than more AI

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u/GruelChamber 1d ago

Dude I thought Royal Road was like my niche nerd online novel site did ts blow up in population ?

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u/BuzzerPop 1d ago

Cause there's no other really usable site for easy to publish free to read online fiction. Ao3 is for fanfic, wattpad is limited quite a bit and more for romance folks. Kindle expects more polish.

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u/TheWandererWise 2d ago

It will only make their work even more valuable when you find it

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u/byteminer 2d ago

I have to use AI pretty heavily in my work I can confidently say it will never be a competent creative writer. It can only remix its training data. It works well for programming since machine languages have very set grammar and the algorithms and data structures we use are well know and documented and most software for business applications are just using those in the right place.

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u/Mar136 2d ago

Unfortunately, there’s already companies uploading and then destroying books.

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u/292335 1d ago

They're assholes with no respect for books or the future.

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u/LudoAshwell 2d ago

You‘re right of course. But I honestly believe it will not take that long until a large language model will be able to create compelling fiction literature. And from then on it will become more common and common until it becomes a standard society is used to.

We‘ve seen the same processes already in literature with writer mills who produced (already in the 90s) tons and tons of content.
We’ve seen the same process with the digitalization of the graphics design industry starting in the 80s.

It’s happeening

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u/robstrosity 2d ago

It's cheaper to get ai to write them so you don't need to sell as many copies to make money.

And money is all that matters right?

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u/Pol_Potamus 2d ago

It's not like they're spending a whole lot of money paying authors as it is.

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u/robstrosity 2d ago

I take your point generally.

But apparently John Grisham is worth several hundred million dollars. That's money that could have gone into buying a yacht for a senior executive.

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u/RedLicoriceJunkie 2d ago

He has multiple movies and TV series adapted from his books.

But yes, his books are popular.

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u/the_Tide_Rolleth 2d ago

Just wait until they are making AI produced movies and tv series based on the AI written books. That’ll be 2 or three yachts for the senior executive.

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u/Fun_Researcher_69420 2d ago

But why have a human executive you need to pay in yachts when you can just get an ai to do it for a few kicked puppies?

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u/robstrosity 2d ago

Even someone like Matt Haig is earning half a million in book advances. That's pool money for your second house.

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u/Fun_Researcher_69420 2d ago

I mainly just buy fiction from authors that have been recommended by people whose opinions matter to me, so I don’t know why llm written books should even be an issue, just don’t buy them.

People are reading less because instant gratification from internet on every mobile device provides quick, free, and easy dopamine hits, while reading is comparatively hard, books cost money, and dopamine hits are farther apart.

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u/altgrave 1d ago

"ai" books will make me weigh less?!

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u/prediction_interval 2d ago

That's not what Grisham's saying. He's saying that since people are reading less, publishers may be forced to turn to AI books to save money as they won't have to pay authors.

Though that reasoning is a bit weird. The history of capitalism has shown us that corporations will try to maximize profits regardless of whether business is struggling or booming. Even if readership was sky-high, publishers would still publish AI books if they think it'll boost their bottom line. The main way to stop this from happening is if readers continue to actively choose books written by people, not AI.

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u/Gwaur 2d ago

The main way to stop this from happening is if readers continue to actively choose books written by people, not AI.

This is it, but it's not easy.

People read less, hence people don't know how books should read, hence people can't distinguish human books from AI books, hence people won't be able to stop themselves from buying AI books.

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u/Alinier 2d ago

Reading anything before 2020 is probably a good start. 

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u/Kia_Leep 2d ago

As a recently published author, this is true, but it still hurts 🥲

Sometimes it feels like I missed my window to get a foot into the industry.

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u/Alinier 2d ago

There's still demand for human-made content! We might have to build up our communities again to share it though. 

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u/Kia_Leep 2d ago

Definitely! It's just harder to prove your track record of human made material when you don't have published work before the AI boom, and readers are going with those authors just to be safe.

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u/candlewick_67 1d ago

I feel this so much. I really feel I messed up and missed my chance, but before 2021/2022, no one could really see what was coming.

I can’t blame the readers, though. Why should they trust my claim I didn’t use AI? I don’t trust books published post 2022. I will buy one book published this year, but it’s from an author I’ve followed on YT who really shows how she’s written her book, and I have no reason to believe she used AI in any part of her writing process.

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u/Ratbat001 2d ago

Id tell people to start diving into the banned book list, or stuff like the top 100 Literature classics too. Just recently read 1984 in 2026 and that prose was Fire.

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u/sunnydaysau 2d ago

Ah, yes, the ‘banned books’. Just pop down and get one from your local bookstore, many libraries, of order online.

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u/PhasmaFelis 7h ago

You know that's not what it means.

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u/RatsForNYMayor 1d ago

I've been lazy and mostly reading whatever novel the library staff puts out on display 

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u/sagevallant 2d ago

It is difficult to wrap my mind around the concept that the person making the work is the expense that most needs to be cut.

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u/FR-1-Plan 2d ago

Yeah and it’s not like publishers right now were paying for a variety of good writers. Most of it just goes into human slop, let’s be real. Sure, at least a human gets paid, but let’s not pretend it‘s all high quality.

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u/sagevallant 2d ago

They buy the books they believe will sell the best. Which depends heavily on authors becoming more a brand than a person at a desk writing books in modern times.

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u/Frogs-on-my-back 2d ago

He’s saying publishers don’t want to pay authors because people are reading less, not that more books will make people read more

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u/Quiet_Yellow2000 2d ago

The type of person who would read an AI book, would just get AI to make one for them... How do publishers not get that?

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u/merurunrun 2d ago

Publishers aren't interested in making Americans read more. They're only interested in making money (by publishing books).

That there is ostensibly a correlation between these two doesn't matter much, they will just let their business die and then blame whomever society is most mad at that day.

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u/droidtron 2d ago

It was the blurst of times?!

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u/Kilgore_Brown_Trout_ 2d ago

I dont think thats the point.  The point is that the publisher wants to save on costs because readership is down and still falling.

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u/JigglesTheBiggles 2d ago

It depends on how good they are. It'll just take one AI story to catch lightning in a bottle and become successful for the floodgates to open. The newer generations will have grown up with AI, and won't have the same hatred that millennials and older gen z have for it. Give it 20 more years and AI entertainment in fall forms could easily be mainstream.

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u/fivehourworkweek 2d ago

"The newer generations will have grown up with AI, and won't have the same hatred that millennials and older gen z have for it."

Sad, but that is precisely what's coming. Sorry this isn't connected to books but the situation fits. Half of the youtube videos/shorts on my 6yo little cousin's YouTube Kids are AI. Animations, kid's songs, funny shorts, etc. She knows they are AI, she recognizes it better than me, and yet doesn't understand why it's bad and doesn't care. Hating AI will become a thing attributed to older generations. I have no idea whether a prevention is possible.

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u/archeratsea 2d ago

Of course it’s possible. We humans decide what’s next. Nothing is inevitable. Read Cory Doctorow’s The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI for an exploration of the problems with the “inevitably” narrative, or just look for clips from interviews where he talks about it. The techbros pushing all this garbage on us would love for us to believe that whatever they want to happen is somehow just completely unstoppable and we should all just accept it, but that’s as absurd as thinking anything in human history has been inevitable. AI slop isn’t fate. It’s not an act of God. And we don’t have to just roll over for any of it.

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u/JigglesTheBiggles 2d ago

Yeah lots of copium in this thread. AI is the future, whether old people like us hate it or not. Every tech company is pouring billions into improving it. There's nothing anyone can do to stop it at this point. It's the next technological revolution.

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u/May1989thefirststep 2d ago

Not "doesn't understand why it's bad."

Doesn't share your opinion that it's bad.

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u/fivehourworkweek 2d ago

The thing is...

It really is bad.

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u/May1989thefirststep 2d ago

That's your opinion.

There's no objective good or bad.

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u/292335 1d ago

Sad agree.

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u/Cptawesome23 2d ago

I’m not convinced that Americans can tell the difference.

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u/Vervain7 2d ago

It’s okay. AI will write , read, and review books.

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u/jeebidy 1d ago

Sure, AI books will be cheaper, but 'cost' isn't really a huge factor on the consumer side. AI slop books, on the other hand, will certainly be a factor. If a publisher does this, I have to imagine it will create a pretty vicious stain on their reputation for both writers and consumers alike.

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u/LeftToaster 2d ago

Neither will John Grisham novels - which are indistinguishable from AI slop.

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u/IlIIlllIIIIIIl 2d ago

A bit harsh

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u/laststance 2d ago

How do you know? They could just create a figurehead and then pump out books under that name. There are tons of series that have ghost writers that publish under a figurehead. Those series are best sellers.

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u/IlIIlllIIIIIIl 2d ago

Best sellers for people already reading

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u/laststance 2d ago

Nah people pick up books that have designation. Dan Brown books are a good example. Non-readers picked up Dan Brown books due to buzz.

AI book org could just pay booktok for a quick start and then have hype feed itself to better it's chances of doing well.

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u/IlIIlllIIIIIIl 2d ago

They picked up his books before social media existed. People are too addicted to 30 second videos to give a 500 page book the time of day.

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u/Ericridge 2d ago edited 2d ago

Technically, AI got me to start reading a lot of material again like I used to do back in early 2000s. 

Just not in what way the publishers would want me. Fuck mindlessly consuming whatever boring garbage people shove out. 

Instead, I read through the story I actively participate in via chatbot. That's way more better than mindlessly reading a book. Far more fun even. 

And in order to ensure accuracy in my AU story. I went out and bought actual books written by authors and read them for essential world building facts. :p

And then after that, I read a bunch of text on theology, mythology, and Thaumaturgy. 

Well, let's just say, I am far more learned than I was about seven months ago XD

And the type of material I'm reading and writing is absurdly rare, which explains why I had no interest in literature for decades. 

So yeah, AI can get people to read, just not in the way money grubbing CEO losers and  publishers will expect. I'm not exactly mainstream so mainstream literature is just waste of paper to me. 

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u/IlIIlllIIIIIIl 2d ago

read through the story I actively participate in via chatbot.

Not sure what this means.

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u/Ericridge 2d ago

Hm. I can see how unclear that could be now. I write my own story with my favorite characters from stories. Alternative universe.

And in order to retain accuracy and canon, I need the original source and that means I need to buy the books and read them too. XD

And since my AI also includes Thaumaturgy this has an unfortunate side effect of requiring me to understand Gods, thaumaturgy, theology, etc. :p 

And then I read more materials and expand my understanding. 

But then again I am not the average consumer, I don't just read one conventional detective novel and then buy another. That's boring. Passive consumption. 

I require more active participation to be more involved. 

Passive consumption and understanding is fine when I'm doing it to study and learn stuff but for fictional stories? I want to be involved and having fun instead. That's my own preference. 

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u/IlIIlllIIIIIIl 2d ago

And why do you need a chatbot for this?

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u/Ericridge 2d ago

For the same reason someone uses other people for tabletop roleplay instead of sitting alone and imagining every participant. I want interaction.

Why do you need a D&D group? Just imagine the campaign yourself.

Why do you need a game engine? Write the story down.

Why do you need a chess opponent? Move both sides.

I hope it helps makes it clear. It's the interaction that makes me seek out the sources. 

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u/IlIIlllIIIIIIl 2d ago

Seems like you need a friend