“There is no simple answer,” literary agent David Kuhn tells ‘Vanity Fair’ of the rapidly-growing technology
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NEED TO KNOW
- Ghostwriters share their thoughts on the future of AI ghostwriters with Vanity Fair
- Legal and copyright issues make human ghostwriters more valuable, despite advancements in AI technology
- Publishers have already rejected AI-generated books, emphasizing the importance of original creative expression and storytelling
Will readers soon be grabbing memoirs off the shelves co-written by their fave celebs — and AI?
It’s no secret that celebrities use ghostwriters to help pen their memoirs. But after billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller admitted that AI helped draft his recent op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal, people are starting to question if other personal, non-fiction writing is next.
“There is no simple answer, but [AI] is pulling back the curtain on a lot of stuff,” David Kuhn, co-CEO of literary agency Aevitas Creative Management, tells Vanity Fair.
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Ghostwriters have traditionally stayed behind the scenes, preserving the illusion that a famous figure put their words — and their words alone — to paper.
But some of the biggest celebrity memoirs in recent years have made those collaborations harder to ignore, including Britney Spears‘ bombshell 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, ghostwritten by Sam Lansky.
However, ghostwriting requires more than turning someone’s memories into polished prose. Dan Gerstein, CEO of Gotham Ghostwriters, tells Vanity Fair that the “best collaborators are as much diplomats as they are writers” who know “when to push the gas and when to put on the brake” — something AI has yet to master.
And the human element isn’t the only complication — there are legal questions that haven’t arisen before to consider, too.
Kuhn tells Vanity Fair that material generated entirely by AI can’t receive the same copyright protections as work written by people, likely making human ghostwriters more valuable to publishers even as the technology improves.
In fact, publishers have already begun drawing lines when it comes to AI’s involvement with books.
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Early this spring, Hachette Book Group pulled Shy Girl from shelves after author Mia Ballard was accused of using AI to write the forthcoming horror novel, stating that it remains “committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling.”
Ballard denied the claims and told The New York Times that an editor she hired had used AI when working on the original self-published version of the novel without her consent.
“This controversy has changed my life in many ways and my mental health is at an all-time low and my name is ruined for something I didn’t even personally do,” she told the outlet, adding that she was pursuing legal action.
Meanwhile, the celebrity memoir machine isn’t slowing down. In 2025, big-name stars including Lena Dunham, Jill Biden, David Archuleta, Laverne Cox and Brandy have all published memoirs, with plenty more hitting shelves soon. And if the way the publishing industry is going is any indication, they’ll all be written by humans.
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