Use this guide before you bring AI tools into a book or article project. Have your project notes to hand and the current content rules of any publisher or platform you plan to use.
Step by step
Decide where AI will and will not help
Write down the tasks you are happy to use AI for, such as brainstorming titles, suggesting structure or spotting repetition. Decide which parts you will always write yourself, such as the actual prose and personal stories. This keeps the book genuinely yours.
Check the rules that apply
Read the current guidelines of your publisher, agent, competition or publishing platform on AI-generated content. Some require disclosure and some restrict it. If you are unsure, ask them directly before you submit.
Protect your voice
If a tool suggests wording, rewrite it in your own style rather than pasting it in. Read passages aloud to make sure they sound like you. Your voice is one of the main reasons readers choose your work.
Fact-check everything
AI tools can invent facts, quotes, statistics and sources that look convincing. Check every factual claim against a reliable original source and never cite something you have not read yourself. Keep a note of your sources as you go.
Respect other people's work and privacy
Do not ask a tool to imitate a living author's text closely or reproduce copyrighted passages. Avoid pasting unpublished manuscripts or other people's private information into tools unless you understand how the data is stored and used. When in doubt, check the tool's terms.
Disclose honestly
Keep a short record of how you used AI in the project. Disclose it where rules require it, and consider a brief note for readers where it played a meaningful role. Honesty protects your reputation.
Ready-to-use checklist
- Allowed AI tasks listed
- Publisher or platform rules read
- AI suggestions rewritten in your own voice
- Every fact checked against a source
- No close imitation of other authors
- Private or unpublished material protected
- Record of AI use kept
- Disclosure made where required
Practical tips
- Ask the tool to question your outline rather than write it, which keeps you in charge of the ideas.
- Save your own drafts before running any AI edit so you can always compare and go back.
- Treat AI output like notes from an unreliable assistant: useful prompts, never final text.
Common problems
My writing is starting to sound like the AI tool.
Stop using the tool for wording and use it only for questions and checks. Reread passages from before you started using it and revise towards that voice.
I found an invented quote or source in my draft.
Remove it straight away and search for a genuine source that supports the point. If none exists, rewrite or cut the claim, then recheck the rest of that section.
I am unsure whether my use needs to be disclosed.
Check the specific wording of the platform's or publisher's rules and ask them if it is still unclear. When in doubt, disclosing briefly is the safer choice.