AI as a co-author

Lucy McCarraher at Book Magic AI explains why AI cannot write your business book for you - but it is an invaluable guide

 

Becoming the published author of a business book - a book that you’re proud of and your readers love - is one of the best pieces of self-development and ways to build your business you can undertake. 

 

I’ve seen thousands of expert entrepreneurs grow, pivot, niche, and sharpen their businesses simply by planning and writing their books. 

 

One barrier that always makes people pause at the start is how much time writing their book will take. Crafting a whole book sounds like a huge commitment. Even if you think it would be a fantastic experience, you probably wonder how you’ll fit it into your busy schedule. 

 

That’s when you might think: I can do this more quickly by getting AI to help me write a book. However, as the UK’s most experienced business book mentor, I’m here to tell you that AI book writing is not the great idea it seems. 

 

It can still be done quickly and efficiently – but your book should be your book, speaking to your readers in your voice and communicating your experience and expertise. You are unique and deserve to stand out in your industry for the right reasons.

 

This is why I DO NOT recommend using AI to write your book for you; you can, though, use AI as an invaluable, speedy book-writing assistant to help you position, plan, structure and later promote your book.

 

Here’s why you shouldn’t simply opt for the speed of AI and fall into the same trap as some other aspiring writers I’ve come across.

 

With AI tools like ChatGPT, Bing, and Koala being used for quick and easy content creation, it’s very tempting to try and quickly create an entire manuscript with minimum effort. But while AI might be able to churn out pages and pages of superficial text on any subject you ask it to tackle, there’s far more to writing a book than just producing strings of words. 

 

Before you even get to the writing stage, you need to consider:  

• Who the book is for (your target audience)
• What your business goals are (and how the book will help achieve these)
• How to structure and plan your book (so it makes sense and flows well)

And much more…

 

While AI book-writing may seem like a cool, innovative idea, you must still nail the essential planning and writing strategy. Most AI writing tools don’t understand this in any real depth, so you will be in danger of ending up with a book full of platitudes gleaned from other sources that lack any originality or substance. A book like this will NOT deliver the results you need and deserve – authority, influence, visibility, prospects, and clients, to name a few.

 

In the publishing industry, there’s already considerable hostility towards using AI in a way that infringes on an author’s or editor’s work. It’s likely the future holds stricter regulations and a more defined framework for AI-generated content.

 

Major publishers and distributors (including Amazon) already scrutinise books for AI-assisted and AI-generated content more closely and are asking for disclosure when it has been used. This stems from a growing number of complaints about the originality of AI-generated content. 

 

Self-publishers on Amazon’s platform must now declare if their content is AI-generated, and it doesn’t look good on your Amazon book page if you share authorship with AI. 

 

Here are five reasons why it’s best not to use AI to write your book for you.

 

1. Inaccuracy and context

AI doesn’t understand the nuanced complexities of its subject matter, which could lead to inaccuracies or misinterpretations that make no sense in the context of your book. You don’t want to look like an amateur in your own area of expertise.

 

2. The human element

You’re writing your book to demonstrate your specific business expertise to your ideal clients, so your personality has to come across to connect with your readers. A book that builds your business has an authentic author’s voice, personal experience and a real business journey. If you don’t think your writing is as fluent as ChatGPT’s, it’s still yours – a professional editor can polish it.

 

3. Coherence and flow 

AI-generated content is usually created in individual chunks, so creating many sections for a 30,000-word book can make it lack coherence and flow; this makes it feel disjointed and repetitive. In your business book, you’ll take your reader through anecdotes from your own life, case studies of your clients and data and information that has inspired you. AI can’t invent that for you or create a journey for your reader as though it’s you in their ear. 

 

4. Ethical and legal grey areas

Your book is a tool to build your business, so it should enhance your name, extend authority in your industry, and create a legacy. You certainly don’t want to worry about potential ethical and legal issues that might appear in the future. While using AI for book writing is legal, it might raise embarrassing or costly questions later.

 

5. Making AI sound like you

In my experience, authors who have tried to use AI to generate their book’s narrative have spent far longer re-writing or editing it to get the information correct and make it sound like them than if they’d written it themselves in the first place. This cancels out the time you’ve gained through AI’s ability to produce content rapidly and is often deeply frustrating. It’s quicker to bite the bullet and write it yourself.

 

Your book’s power lies in your distinctive voice. Your unique perspective, experience, and insight matter more than anything else, so while AI can access anything and everything on the internet, it cannot get inside your head and reproduce your own business knowledge, expertise and processes.

 

AI can help you position, plan, structure, keep you accountable and on track as you write. It will be invaluable in helping you promote your book. But the magic of your business book is YOU – and that’s why you are the only person who can write it.

 

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Lucy McCarraher is Founder and CEO of Book Magic AI. The author of 14 books, her new book Book Magic is available from the 20th March

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and Svitlana Unuchko