Nonfiction Book Publishers Aren't Remotely Ready for AI
The nonfiction book publishing industry is facing challenges with the integration of AI, particularly regarding fact-checking and accuracy. A recent incident involving author Steven Rosenbaum highlighted the risks of using AI-generated content, leading to the inclusion of misattributed quotes in his book. Publishers are struggling to establish guidelines for AI usage, leaving many authors uncertain about the acceptable boundaries of AI assistance in their work.
- ▪Steven Rosenbaum's book included several misattributed quotes generated by AI, raising concerns about accuracy in nonfiction publishing.
- ▪The publishing industry has long neglected fact-checking, with publishers not contractually obligated to verify the accuracy of the content.
- ▪There is currently no industrywide standard on acceptable AI usage, leading to confusion and potential misuse among authors.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
stop the presses Nonfiction Book Publishers Aren’t Remotely Ready for AI By Charlotte Klein, a features writer and media columnist at New York Magazine May 28, 2026 saved Save this article to read it later. Find this story in your account’s ‘Saved for Later’ section. Comment Photo: Thomas Meyer/OSTKREUZ/Redux Steven Rosenbaum started writing his book The Future of Truth: How AI Reshapes Reality in 2022, around when ChatGPT launched. Initially he didn’t use it at all, “But as the writing moved forward into 2023, 2024, it got better and I got better at using it,” he said. “To be clear, it never wrote a page of the book,” he added. “But it became a research partner. I would ask it for quotes on certain things, and it would deliver them.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Intelligencer.
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