New Certification Assures Your Book Was Written by a Human
- by Michael Stillman
The Books By People seal.
Books have never had a rating system like movies, but a new certification process has recently been developed to combat an issue Shakespeare never faced. Actually, no publisher or author has been questioned on this until very recently. However, it is now enough of an issue that a new certification process has been developed to reassure readers their books were actually written by people. The certifier is a recently formed organization called "Books By People."
This may sound crazy, but what Books By People certifies is that books were written by people. The concern is not the infinite monkey theorem - that monkeys given an infinite amount of time can write the works of Shakespeare by randomly tapping on the keys. The culprit here is a creation of technology - AI. Artificial Intelligence is replacing human creativity in so much of what you read on the internet, even though you may not know it. It is writing books too, or giving the "author" a major hand, with ten additional fingers to pound on his or her imaginary typewriter. Pity those authors from five years ago who had to write their books by themselves.
Books By People describes the issue succinctly, "AI is flooding the literary world with imitations of human storytelling, challenging the publishing world to respond. Without safeguards, authentic human work will inevitably struggle to maintain the visibility and credibility it deserves." They even have a name for human created literature, "organic literature." No artificial ingredients, pumped out by a machine. This is real literature, created the old-fashion way, by a human being. Books By People defines organic literature as "books conceived and written by humans, where structure, voice and character development originate from the author. If there is AI use involved, it is for spelling or formatting, not for generating or rewriting meaningful content." Their mission, they explain, is "to uphold a trusted and recognisable ‘Organic Literature’ market by supporting publishers and authors who champion human writing, and by making that commitment clear and valuable to readers."
Books By People will review a publisher's editorial practices, check some samples of their titles, and if all is in order, issue certification that their books were actually written by people.
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: IL MANOSCRITTO RITROVATO DI IPPOLITA MARIA SFORZA. TITO LIVIO - Ab Urbe Condita. Prima Decade. Manoscritto miniato su pergamena, metà XV secolo. € 280.000 - 350.000
Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.