The author embracing AI to help write novels – and why he’s not worried about it taking his job

Published

2 years ago

August 19, 2023

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The rain tapped lightly against the windowpanes of my London apartment, a steady rhythm that mirrored the musings within my little grey cells.

It was a day like any other, or so I believed, until a peculiar letter arrived. As I delicately unfolded the note, its contents gave rise to a most intriguing puzzle.

‘Mr Hercule Poirot,’ it began in elegant script, ‘I implore you to lend your unparalleled expertise to a matter of utmost secrecy and importance.

‘An enigma of art, an amalgamation of shadows, a crescendo of whispers, await your perceptive insight.’

Asked to open a new novel starring detective Hercule Poirot, one of Agatha Christie’s most famous creations, that’s ChatGPT‘s first attempt at grabbing your attention.

Ciphers Of The Midnight Mind is the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot’s suggested title – and it could no doubt craft the entire rest of the story in a matter of seconds.

For fans of the more than century-old character, whose popularity has endured beyond Christie’s death in 1976, new stories composed on demand may be a tantalising prospect.

After all, the author’s estate – like those who hold the keys to James Bond and Sherlock Holmes – has happily commissioned other writers to give readers new Poirot and Miss Marple adventures. Who’s to say those same fans couldn’t find enjoyment in a passable imitation by AI?

For many writers, it’s an existential question that has them fearing for their livelihoods.

But for Ajay Chowdhury, an award-winning crime author, it presents an opportunity for them to reach new heights.

“There’s a lot of fear around it for a writer – but I don’t believe it is going to replace us,” he says.

“I started experimenting with AI in writing six or seven months ago, and it was of course slightly scary.

“But it’s like having a fantastic editor on demand.”

Useful editor or existential threat?

Chowdhury’s fascination with AI speaks to his background in tech, one which included co-founding the music discovery app Shazam, later bought by Apple for a reported $400m (then £300m).

But he is now known for his Kamil Rahman crime series, inspired by his Indian roots, which has won him several awards and will see a fifth entry – The Spy – released next year.

AI tools are playing a key role in its development – helping Chowdhury bounce thoughts around, generate potential outcomes for certain scenes, and rephrase sections to help with pacing.

He even used an image generator, Midjourney, to visualise a dramatic chase scene through a cave on the island of Elephanta, a world heritage site off the coast of Mumbai. It helped spark ideas about how it could play out.

“Eight out of 10 times, whatever AI gives you might be thrown away, but the other two times you might think it’s a decent idea that can be expanded on,” he says.

“Using a combination of these tools is giving me a much better draft to submit. I am finding that I get to what would have been a fifth draft by the second draft.”

For Chowdhury, there’s no shame in using AI to help get there, despite what many of his contemporaries fear.

Earlier this month, author Jane Friedman had to contend with AI-generated books purportedly written in her name, falsely listed as such on Amazon. She managed to have them removed, despite them not technically falling foul of copyright law because she had not trademarked her name.

“This promises to be a serious problem for the book publishing world,” she warns.

‘Marvel formula’ most at risk

More than 100,000 writers have endorsed an open letter by America’s Authors Guild, which has demanded AI’s development show “respect for human creators and copyright”.

Generative models like ChatGPT are trained on huge amounts of trademarked material, prompting writers including comedian Sarah Silverman to sue its creator OpenAI for copyright infringement.

This potential to imitate human work is a driving force behind ongoing writers’ strikes in Hollywood.

TV and theatre writer Lisa Holdsworth, who is chair of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, told the Sky News Daily podcast that would constitute theft more than creation, and the longer AI models are left to be trained without safeguards in place, “the more of a threat it becomes”.

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Chowdhury backs the cause, saying left to its own devices, AI will only serve to indulge mediocrity.

“That beige world of creativity where everything is sequel 32 to something, that worries me,” he admits.

“Look at films like Oppenheimer and Barbie, both extremely well written. Could AI create those? No. But could they write the next Marvel? Possibly, it’s a pretty clear formula.”

A world of mediocrity?

For Chowdhury, the genie is out of the bottle and there’s no going back – writers, like all of us, need to adapt.

Aside from the next main entry in his Kamil Rahman series, AI helped Chowdhury find time to work with Google on interactive novel The Invitation, a crime story set in London’s East End.

The free short story – which includes puzzles to solve, a countdown timer, and sound effects – was made with commuters in mind and only takes around 20 minutes to get through.

It’s a little heavy on the Google product placement, with nods to Gmail and Maps that are clever or eye-rolling depending on your level of cynicism, though as a proof of concept for quick to make, accessible interactive novels, the kinds of which gamers have long been familiar, overall it’s quite effective.

The whole thing came together in six weeks to mark the UK launch of the tech giant’s new Pixel Fold phone, optimised to take advantage of its book-like screen. The production speed helped by Chowdhury generating the artwork using Midjourney.

It does the job, but it’s a move that will no doubt rub some the wrong way given the criticism levelled at Marvel for using AI to generate opening title graphics for its latest TV series.

But Chowdhury still sees AI as a tool to take him and others “to another level”.

“The utopia to me is people using AI to enhance their creativity,” he says.

“The side that worries me is if large corporations start to think we don’t need creatives any more.

“That will become a world of mediocrity.”

As the rain continued to dance its elegy on the windowpane, Poirot leaned back in his chair, his little grey cells still whirring with satisfaction.

For within the labyrinthine corridors of art and deception, he had once again illuminated the truth, dispelling the shadows that sought refuge in the enigmatic corners of the human soul.

Thanks, ChatGPT, but when it comes to Poirot, I think I’ll stick with Christie.

Entertainment

Bob Vylan dropped by talent agency – as BBC expresses ‘regret’ over streaming of Glastonbury performance

Published

56 mins ago

June 30, 2025

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Bob Vylan dropped by talent agency - as BBC expresses 'regret' over streaming of Glastonbury performance

The BBC has said it regrets not pulling the live stream of Bob Vylan’s “unacceptable” Glastonbury set – as Ofcom said the broadcaster had “questions to answer”.

The corporation has faced mounting criticism over airing the performance on Glastonbury‘s West Holts Stage, during which the rap-punk duo’s frontman Bobby Vylan led chants of, “free, free Palestine”, and “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]”.

Sir Keir Starmer condemned the remarks as “appalling hate speech”, while festival organiser Emily Eavis said they “crossed a line” – and media watchdog Ofcom has now also released a statement raising concerns.

On Monday morning, a spokesperson for the prime minister did not directly answer when asked if he still had confidence in BBC director-general Tim Davie.

Sky News understands the band have since been dropped by representatives United Talent Agency.

During Bob Vylan’s set on Saturday, they performed in front of a screen that showed several messages, including one that said Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to “genocide”.

Footage from the performance shows some of the crowd joining in with the chants.

Amid criticism afterwards, the BBC said there had been a warning on screen about potential “strong and discriminatory language”, but described the comments as “deeply offensive”.

On Monday, a spokesperson released an updated statement, saying the comments were antisemitic and the performance should have been taken off air.

“The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence,” the statement said. “The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury’s condemnation of the performance.”

A judgement to issue a warning on screen while streaming online was in line with editorial guidelines, the spokesperson added, and the performance has not been made available to view on demand.

“The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen.

“In light of this weekend, we will look at our guidance around live events so we can be sure teams are clear on when it is acceptable to keep output on air.”

Ofcom’s reaction

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We are very concerned about the live stream of this performance, and the BBC clearly has questions to answer.

“We have been speaking to the BBC over the weekend and we are obtaining further information as a matter of urgency, including what procedures were in place to ensure compliance with its own editorial guidelines.”

In a statement shared on Instagram on Sunday, Bobby Vylan said: “Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.

“As we grow older and our fire starts to possibly dim under the suffocation of adult life and all its responsibilities, it is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us.”

The latest developments follows severe condemnation from the prime minister, who said there was “no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech”.

Sir Keir also referenced a previous statement that Belfast rap group Kneecap, who were on stage after Bob Vylan, should have been removed from the line-up after one member was charged with a terrorism offence.

“I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence,” he said.

Ms Eavis, whose father Michael co-founded the festival, said in a statement that Bob Vylan had “very much crossed a line”.

She added: “Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”

The Israeli embassy posted on X in the hours after the set, saying it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric”.

It said the slogan used “advocates for the dismantling of the State of Israel”.

In a separate post on X on Sunday, Israel’s foreign ministry published graphic footage following the attack by Hamas on the Nova festival in Israel on 7 October 2023, and the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it would be formally complaining to the BBC over its “outrageous decision” to broadcast the performance.

Speaking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on behalf of the government, Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the chant as “appalling”, especially at a music festival – “when there were Israelis at a similar music festival who were kidnapped, murdered, raped, and in some cases still held captive”.

He added that while “there’s no justification for inciting violence against Israelis… the way in which Israel’s conducting this war has made it extremely difficult for Israel’s allies around the world to stand by and justify”.

Lucy McMullin, who was in the crowd for Bob Vylan, told Sky News: “When there’s children and civilians being murdered and starved, then I think it’s important that people are speaking out on these issues.

“However, inciting more death and violence is not the way to do it.”

Police have said they are reviewing footage of both the Bob Vylan and Kneecap sets to assess whether any criminal offences were committed.

Speaking to Sky News, women and equalities minister Baroness Jacqui Smith said the comments “clearly” over-stepped the mark.

“I’m surprised that the BBC carried on broadcasting them live when it was obvious what was happening.”

Entertainment

RuPaul’s Drag Race star The Vivienne died by ‘misadventure’, inquest finds

Published

56 mins ago

June 30, 2025

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RuPaul's Drag Race star The Vivienne died by 'misadventure', inquest finds

An inquest has found drag queen The Vivienne did not intend to take their life when they died after taking ketamine.

Coroner Jacqueline Devonish concluded The Vivienne, whose real name is James Lee Williams, died by “misadventure” after suffering cardio respiratory arrest.

Williams, who won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019, was found dead at the age of 32 in the bath at their home in Cheshire on 5 January this year.

In March, the star’s family revealed the performer had died “from the effects of ketamine use causing a cardiac arrest”, saying they wanted to raise awareness about the dangers of the drug.

Cheshire Coroner’s Court heard five drug snap bags were found, including in a bedroom draw and a bin in the bathroom, in their home in Chorlton-by-Backford, near Chester.

Police attended and confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances.

The inquest heard friends and family had no worries about Williams’s mental health and the performer was looking forward to future roles on TV and in the theatre, although did “occasionally” take ketamine.

The star’s family told the hearing the performer should not be remembered for their use of the Class B drug and that drugs did not define the person they were.

Williams’s father Lee Williams described them as “an outgoing character who was full of life” and “just wanted to make people laugh”.

“He achieved his goals. He had future goals he wanted to achieve. Along the way he always wanted to try to help his community, which he did and try to help other drag queens,” he said.

“He was always available. He never turned anybody down. He never turned his back on anybody. He never said no.

“He loved the stage, that’s where he saw the rest of his career being, on the stage, in the theatre. That’s what he loved to do.”

Williams’s funeral in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, North Wales, was attended by RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestants Tia Kofi and Baga Chipz, along with Steps singer Ian “H” Watkins, TV personality Kim Woodburn and Coronation Street actress Claire Sweeney.

During their time on the show, under their drag name, Williams admitted having been a drug addict for four years.

“It was party, drugs, but I couldn’t leave the drugs at the party, it was constant for me,” they said.

They added that their addiction was a “habit that caught on a bit too quick and a bit too hard”.

The TV personality, who grew up in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, before moving to Liverpool, came third in the 2023 edition of Dancing On Ice.

The star performed as the Wicked Witch of the West in a UK and Ireland tour of The Wizard Of Oz musical and reprised the role in the West End at the Gillian Lynne Theatre last year.

They were due back on stage in March as the Childcatcher in a tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a role they first played last year.

The government is seeking expert advice after illegal use of ketamine surged to record levels.

In the year ending March 2023, an estimated 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 had reported use of the substance, which is controlled as class B, according to the Home Office.