Big Publishers Secretly Use AI to Write Book Blurbs and Covers

A new report from Wired reveals that three of the five biggest book publishers are quietly using AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude to create promotional copy and even cover art. More than two dozen publishing employees spoke anonymously, saying authors are rarely informed. So the next time you read a book blurb or see a cover, it might be machine-made.

This comes as publishers publicly fight AI companies over copyright. In May, the big five publishers sued Meta for using books to train AI. Yet behind the scenes, they're embracing the same technology. Meanwhile, reading for pleasure is dropping—44% of American men didn't read a book last year—but publisher revenues are up 16% since 2021. So the industry is cutting costs with AI while profits rise.

There's a catch: AI-generated content can't be copyrighted, and it may contain errors or clichés. One high-profile book deal worth $2 million was cancelled because the manuscript might have been AI-generated—not due to quality, but because publishers couldn't secure clear copyright. Authors are now demanding contracts that prevent their unpublished manuscripts from being fed into AI tools for marketing.

For readers, this means the book industry you love is changing. You might get faster, cheaper marketing, but also blander covers and descriptions. Authors lose income and control. And if AI writes the blurbs, who's making sure they're accurate? The bottom line: even as publishers battle AI in court, they're using it to sell you books.