Yesterday, we shared our Charter of Ethical AI Use in the Creative Industries on social media, and I am sorry that we clearly failed to communicate its purpose.
I would, therefore, like to explain the purpose of the Charter and how we would like it to be applied in the publishing industry. First, I wish to emphasise that the Society of Authors’ position on generative AI remains unchanged.
We understand generative AI to be harmful to the creative industries, to individual writers’ livelihoods, and to the shared environment. We are not rolling back on our position, and we do not encourage generative AI use. Our campaigning to protect the interests of our members and all authors against generative AI will continue with the same vigour as it has since 2022.
We are clear that there can never be any truly ethical use of generative AI because of the way LLMs have been trained on copyright works without permission or payment; the detrimental environmental impacts; and the harmful effect it has on disempowered communities.
Nevertheless, an increasing number of organisations within the publishing industry are now using generative AI. We are deeply concerned that people within the industry are using generative AI in the shadows, where it cannot be monitored or its use and impacts fully understood. The Charter has been created, in collaboration with writers’ organisations around the world, because we need to see public, transparent commitments from all publishers about whether, how and where generative AI is being used.
This international Charter builds on our lobbying activities and is intended to inform, focus minds and act as a statement of intent for the industry. It is a commitment for transparency around generative AI use, and – where other organisations believe there is a case for its use, such as in data analysis and summarisation – it aims to ensure that it is used in a responsible way, to minimise the harmful impacts on humans and the environment.
We can’t protect authors, illustrators and translators on our own. We need every organisation within the industry to play their part. The Charter, therefore, is intended to promote urgent discussion so that those of us who vehemently oppose the use of generative AI can influence others to act responsibly and to respect the rights and interests of all creatives, including authors.
We will continue to fight tirelessly to obtain redress for authors whose works have been stolen by Big Tech to train their commercial LLMs, but meanwhile, we also need the organisations who are using generative AI to be clear about how they can mitigate the harms, particularly to author careers.
I want you to know that we are listening to all your feedback and, while we will endeavour to respond to each email as soon as possible, we will continue to work to make sure members feel represented, heard and protected in this evolving commitment.
Given the feedback from our members and the evolving nature of AI use, we will discuss this Charter at the AGM on 19 November. If you would like to feed back, you can contact us here.
Useful links
Charter of Ethical AI Use in the Creative Industries – The Society of Authors
Creative industries launch Ethical AI Charter – The Society of Authors
Thousand of authors publish empty book to protest theft by AI companies – The Society of Authors
Brave New World? Justice for creators in the age of GenAI – The Society of Authors
A month of lobbying government on AI – The Society of Authors
The Meta protest day of action, 3 April 2025 – diary of your CEO – The Society of Authors
