Authors Are Using AI To Generate Themselves Now

Recently, I was scrolling through TikTok when I came across a promoted video of a romance author introducing herself. Ava Wilde has two novellas out, she’s working on her first novel, and she’s looking for author friends.

Oh, and she’s not real. She’s AI-generated.

I made a video about the situation, which you can watch on YouTube Shorts, Instagram, or TikTok. Since then, Wilde seems to have pivoted to mostly posting AI-generated videos of characters from her work, rather than videos of “herself.” However, her intro video is still public, with comments from just the last week or two that appear to be from fellow authors and readers wanting to connect with her.

Is Ava Wilde some kind of trick looking to lure authors into being her friend and then scam them? Maybe — but her books are real, in the sense that they are available to buy and have a Goodreads listing. The name “Ava Wilde” relies on the dominant vowel sounds “A” and “I,” so maybe the whole thing is an elaborate troll after all, but I think it’s just as likely that Wilde is a project of someone who wants to build a platform as a romance author.

Make no mistake: I don’t believe authors should reveal everything about themselves online. Pen names are ubiquitous in the writing world, and plenty of authors never show their faces on social media. Satire and horror novelist Chuck Tingle famously puts a pink bag over his head for public appearances.

However, given the tide of AI slop taking over the internet, I believe that promoting an author platform with AI-generated videos is the wrong way to go about building trust with a reader base. Certainly, I think it’s the wrong way to go about building trust with professional colleagues, as Wilde attempted to do in her intro video.

While I have no proof that Wilde’s books themselves are written with AI, it’s easy to assume that someone who’s so comfortable using AI for their social media content would have no qualms about using it to help write their books. See my newsletter from June for a full breakdown of why I object to the use of generative AI in creative writing, but from a marketing perspective, it basically comes down to this: Why would I bother to read your book if you didn’t bother to write it? (If Wilde’s books are 100% human-created, I think it’s a bad business decision to build an author platform around AI-generated content, because readers will absolutely make assumptions.)

My aim with covering this story is not to encourage people to bully or harass Wilde. The problem is not limited to her — if one author can do this, plenty of others will too, especially in an era where generative AI tools are easier than ever to access. Instead, I hope the book community can be discerning about the content we see online, and foster a community centered around true creativity rather than AI slop.

Watch Early: Why Everyone Is Obsessed With Murderbot

My latest video essay is about the fictional, fun kind of AI! The award-winning Murderbot book series began with the novella All Systems Red in 2017, and the first season of the Murderbot TV adaptation wrapped up on Apple TV+ last month. Following rave reviews, the show has already been renewed for a second season. But how has a series about a cynical robot become so relatable to human readers and viewers?

Most people won’t get to watch the video until it goes public in a few days, but you get to watch it now at this unlisted link!

Book Review: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Sticking with the Murderbot theme, I also reviewed the first novella in the Murderbot series, All Systems Red! This is the book the first season of the TV show is based on, and it hooked me immediately with its brisk plot and Murderbot’s sassy, cynical personality.

For my full thoughts, read my full review of All Systems Red on Storygraph.

My Epic Quest to Meet My Favorite Author

Many of you know that my favorite book of all time is This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (I even made a whole video essay about the story behind the book’s bestseller status). Last month, I found out that Amal was going to be at a book festival near me, so I set out on an epic mission to meet her!

Watch my recap of the shenanigans and setbacks it took to finally come face-to-face with one of the authors of my favorite book on YouTube Shorts, Instagram, and TikTok:

K-Pop Demon Hunters Was Fun, But There’s a Problem …

Like most of the internet, I recently watched the K-Pop Demon Hunters animated movie on Netflix. I had a grand old time with the fun premise, excellent animation, and relentlessly catchy songs that have been stuck in my head nonstop! However, the storyline for the main character, Rumi, felt like it didn’t mesh with the overall worldbuilding of the movie, so I made a mini video essay about it.

It must be noted that while the movie is an American production, it takes a lot of inspiration from Korean folklore and K-dramas — two things I am not well-versed in. For example, when I originally made this video, I didn’t pick up on the fact that “ancient demon grows a conscience through the power of love” is an established K-drama trope. (That aspect wasn’t really the source of my confusion around the movie, but it was fun to learn what the movie was referencing!) However, I still feel like Rumi’s character arc clashes with the themes in the rest of the story, and I am as yet unaware of any Korean storytelling traditions that explain why.

Watch the video on YouTube Shorts, Instagram, and TikTok:

Doctor Who Hot Takes

My last Youtube video essay was a giant rundown of how Doctor Who’s latest season went from brilliant to disastrous. As I often do with my YouTube videos, I cut some short videos for Instagram and TikTok about a particular aspect of the topic.

First up, I posted my mini spoiler-free review of the season as a whole on Instagram and TikTok:

Additionally, on Instagram and TikTok, I explored how Doctor Who’s recent genre shift from sci-fi to fantasy isn’t quite working for me:

Thank you so much for reading! Until next time, bookish friends.

Love,

Ellie