Identifying AI-Created Literature
- Patricia Leslie
- Sep 25, 2025
- 3 min read
This is the third in a series on the impact of artificial intelligence on literature and reading. I requested an article on this topic through WIX AI post creator and am pulling it apart one sub-heading at a time.
Read Part Two: Reader Expectations in the Age of AI
Reminder: my comments are in italics and indented. The rest is straight from the AI’s mouth... so to speak.
Let’s jump into it…
Identifying AI-Created Literature
As AI becomes more integrated into literary creation, distinguishing between human and machine-generated texts will become increasingly complex. However, several signs can indicate AI's involvement. For example, books that exhibit erratic pacing or repetitive phrases may show significant AI input.
I would also add that if the style is stilted, simplistic, uses a lot of jargon, it may also be the result of artificial intelligence. It really depends on the quality of the prompts the writer inputs and the effort made on polishing the script.
AI may sound like a friendly and helpful writer on the other side of your screen, but it is and always will be technology that enables your computer to perform the task you ask of it. Its answers in response to your prompts are shaped by human bias and potential human error. The information it provides is scraped from thousands (millions) of other sources (which may or may not be correct themselves) and easily taken out of context and lacking in real world nuance.
You may also find a familiarity of descriptions or terminology to well-known authors. AI uses published books to “learn” how to do creative writing.
Additionally, stories lacking a strong voice or emotional depth can also indicate AI contribution. Research shows that while AI can mimic writing styles, it often struggles with the subtleties of human experience—a critical element of impactful fiction. Readers who focus on character development and thematic richness will likely be adept at identifying the influence of AI in a text.
Ah, back to “real-world nuance”. Your favourite AI is not human. It does not understand human feeling or emotion. It does not have the depth of experience and memory that we do. If what you’re reading is falling flat and seems quite shallow, consider the creator of the story. Not to say that all novels or short stories you don’t connect with are the result of artificial intelligence – not at all! I’ve read plenty that don’t click with me and they were written by real people. Rather, I’m saying (or trying to) that if the story seems shallow and perhaps shows a complete lack of nuance, in line with other examples mentioned above, perhaps AI and poorly worded prompts are indicated. I’ve included links below to a couple of articles I read regarding “spotting AI” for your further reading.
In this instance, I think the Wix Content creator gave a great description about AI contribution to creative writing. In particular, AI can mimic writing styles. It is very easy to get it to do this. The writer just needs to add to the prompt, “in the style of #### ####” (pick an author).
Identifying AI-created literature will become harder as the training of the algorithms improves and things like bias decrease and accuracy increases. Identification of its use isn't as easy as a poorly put together AI image (you know the ones I mean), but even these are improving. Video and sound are jumping ahead in leaps and bounds. Literature won't be far behind.
Coming soon: Intersection of AI and Literature
My reading sources for this article:
