In a world of generative AI, recognising human creativity is vital
This is why we’re developing a Human Authored mark to enable all types of writers, illustrators and literary translators to label their work as Human Authored.
As the largest professional organisation representing authors in the UK, the Society of Authors has been protecting authors' interests for over a century.
While the onus should be on tech companies to label AI-generated content, until that happens, we’re empowering authors with additional labelling to help their human authored work stand out.
Authors should be able to identify their work as being created with uniquely human skill and originality.
Readers should be able to distinguish human authored books from those generated by AI, so that they can make informed decisions about their book selection.
In recent years we have been campaigning to safeguard authors’ interests as generative AI has continued to develop. During 2025, we’ve been in discussion with the Authors Guild in the US to mirror their Human Authored scheme in the UK.
The UK Human Authored scheme will be available free of charge to SoA members, with the aim of making it available to non-member authors in the future for a modest fee to cover administrative costs.
How it will work
Authors will be able to:
- Declare that their registered works are Human Authored
- Register their works (by title) under the scheme
- Receive a unique registration number that will be added to a database of registered works
- Download the mark for use in print and digital
Self-published authors and publishers will be able to:
- Use the Human Authored mark on their books and the books’ associated web and retail pages to identify it as being Human Authored
Readers will be able to:
- Search the Human Authored database before buying or borrowing a book
- Have confidence that the books they buy or borrow have been registered as being Human Authored
Further information
More details will be available when the scheme is launched in the first quarter of 2026.