Books by People Gets UK Approval for Human-Authored Book Mark

Books by People has received approval from the UK's Intellectual Property Office to distribute a mark indicating a book was authored by a human, the company confirmed. The stamp looks like a thumbprint and will be displayed on book covers.

To certify a book, Books by People asks for an authorship declaration, runs manuscripts through proprietary software, and manually examines early drafts and research materials for indicators of humanity. The company charges publishers a flat membership fee plus an additional sum for every book submitted for certification.

Five publishers have signed up with Books by People so far. The company expects the mark to appear on its first book by the end of the year, according to WIRED.

Earlier labeling efforts

Previously, book-labeling schemes like Human Authored operated under an honesty system where authors promised they had not used AI. This year, the publishing industry has been caught up in scandals involving the suspected use of AI by authors, including a canceled $2 million book deal, a novel withdrawn from shelves, and allegations that a prize-winning short story was AI-generated.

In September, debut author Jerry Falade alleged that detection software misconstrued his Nigerian dialect as evidence he had used AI. New York-based startup Pangram claims its AI detection software can identify generated text with 99.7 percent accuracy.