You didn’t write that! (AI Didn’t Create the Ghostwriting Debate. It Just Rehashed It.)
- lisa39734
- Apr 22
- 14 min read
There is currently quite a hubbub (Ha! I knew I would have a use for that word one day.) about people using AI to write for them, and that is rolling into conversations about how it is or isn’t different from working with a ghostwriter.
Having been a ghostwriter for 10+ years, I can tell you that it is a strange way to make a living. It’s a cool title, it invites a lot of questions, and it is monumentally misunderstood. For hundreds of years, the profession has existed in a grey area, behind books and stories, and often surrounded by the miasma of suspicion and judgment.
This scrutiny of ghostwriting isn’t new; it’s just that AI has now been added to the mix. There are people who want to shame anyone who doesn’t write for themselves, and they contend that it doesn’t matter whether the writer is a person or a program. The comparison isn’t wildly out of step. I can see how they got there. Both processes can be considered shortcuts to becoming an author. But while ghostwriting and AI writing may look similar from a distance, the process and outcome are completely different.
Since there are so many misunderstandings about ghostwriting, let’s all get on the same page. A ghostwriter is a skilled wordsmith hired to write for clients, bringing their ideas, stories, and visions to life. Working behind the scenes, the ghostwriter usually signs a contract with the credited writer that requires them to keep their work confidential. They use their talents to convey the client’s voice and message while usually remaining anonymous or uncredited for their contributions.
So, this tells you what a ghostwriter does, but I find this description by author and ghostwriter, Liam Pieper gives a much clearer view of what is required to do the job:
“Over a series of days or months, they tell me all the stories that make up their life, and together we order them in a way that readers will resonate with. It’s an intense, intimate, emotionally charged process that recalls both the awkwardness of a blind date and the oversharing of the therapy room.
In ghost work, your job is to help them sound more like themselves, while also guiding them to choose which stories should make the final cut. Half the job is fighting with a client about discretion. A good book is made by what is left out, rather than what’s in.
Finding that balance means diving pretty deep. Intense intimacy and then, at the end of that relationship, your task as ghost is to, well — ghost. To disappear without a trace and never mention it again.” [1]
Even from here, you can already see how ghostwriting is separate from anything AI can replicate. It is a human process, built on listening, trust, and lived experience.[2]
Why People Need Help Writing: Otherwise, we would probably never hear from them.
I use the word “voice” quite a bit when talking about writing with clients, and I’m also a singer. I used to work with a musical partner who would bring new songs to rehearsal. I had to be careful not to mention if a riff or melody line sounded similar to something in a famous song because he would get upset and want to scrap the whole thing, thinking he had accidentally ripped someone off.
When it comes to music, a lot of people think everything “has been done before.” After all, there are only eight musical notes. How many combinations can there be?
I contend that even if there are only so many configurations of the notes, and even if they’ve all been played before, there is always something new.
When everything has been done before, there is still the originality of YOU.
Things hit differently, you play differently, and sing differently simply by the merit of being yourself. No one can duplicate that.
By the same token, yours is a story that belongs to you alone.
But having something to say and knowing how to say it are two very different things.
Paved with Best Intentions…Even if you can do it, will you?
“And I’m finally going to get my book written,” my client, Sarah, told me over the phone as we wrapped up our call.
Before I became a full-time ghostwriter, I worked as a virtual assistant and was transitioning out of that role with my last few clients. This particular client knew I was writing, and though I had offered to help her get her book started many times, she had never taken me up on it.
Sarah is a very smart and talented woman. She has loads of irons in the fire at any given time. She is incredibly knowledgeable in her industry and happens to be a good writer.
I had been hearing about her book for about seven years. I have no doubt that it will be wonderful if she ever makes time to write it, but I fear that she won’t.
As I see it, what is getting in Sarah’s way is her general busyness, obviously, but also her need to hang on to being the writer. I think she believes that she is the only one who can convey her deep breadth of knowledge. In short, she does not trust anyone else with her baby.
I understand this instinct in Sarah. When something matters to you, it’s hard to hand it over. It feels like no one else could possibly do it justice, that the message will be diluted or lost if it passes through someone else’s hands.
But I don’t want Sarah to end up with nothing. Because that’s the real risk. There are too many people with valuable ideas who never share them because they try to do everything themselves. I believe that wise people learn to leverage the strengths of others. That’s not a shortcut — it’s how things get done.
Sarah may think that it’s cheating to work with a ghostwriter. She reminds me a bit of my daughter when she was about three years old and insisted, “I can do it!” whenever I tried to help her tie her shoes or brush her hair.
In any case, I hope Sarah finds the time and the words because what she has to share with the world is innovative and could be life-changing. But if there are no words on the page, who will ever know?
As a ghostwriter, this is the one thing I want people to understand more than anything else: they risk never sharing their story by keeping it to themselves until they have time to get it done. Don’t live or die with your story or lessons stuck inside of you.
For those who believe ghostwriting is somehow unethical, I have to ask: would you rather the story not be told? The song not sung? Because that might be the alternative. Not everyone who has something valuable to say has the ability, or the inclination to write it. And while there’s never a shortage of “idea people,” ideas on their own don’t amount to much if they never leave someone’s head. Ghostwriting can be the difference between something existing or not.
Celebrities…They’re Just Like Us!
I recently read that at least 396 celebrity and public-figure memoirs were published in 2023 alone. Britney Spears’ autobiography, The Woman in Me, sold 1.1 million copies in its first week on sale in the United States. Barbra Streisand’s 992-page memoir, My Name Is Barbra, was a number-one bestseller nine months before it even hit the bookshelves, and Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling nonfiction book since records began.
I think it’s safe to say that this genre is always having a moment.[3] Or perhaps it is fueling a moment. This visibility is partly why authorship scrutiny is increasing.
In other words, the idea of someone writing behind the scenes isn’t the least bit unusual; it’s just part of the process.
“I feel like there are a lot of celebrities who are like, ‘I wrote all my books,’ but all they did was voice-to-text. Voice-to-text. I don’t think that counts as writing a book! I’m sorry, there should be clerical work. If I had to suffer through it, so do you! Michelle Obama, Becoming? Becoming lazy! Hillary Clinton, What Happened? And the first page is Hillary going, ‘What happened is someone else wrote this book.’”
- Trixie Matel, American drag queen, TV personality, and co-author of Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood and Working Girls: Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Professional Womanhood
In the world of celebrity memoirs, the use of ghostwriters is common, allowing famous individuals to share their life stories with finesse, since a talented actor or musician isn’t necessarily a talented author. This collaboration can result in compelling narratives that captivate readers, blending the celebrity’s authentic voice with the hired wordsmith’s literary skills. One notable example is Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, where it was known that journalist-cum-novelist J.R. Moehringer brought his experiences to life. Another example is the memoir Decoded by hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, which he co-wrote with journalist Dream Hampton. These partnerships help the words flow and engage the audience.
Invisible Talent
The entertainment industry has always relied on “invisible” talent, not only in film but also in television and comedy. In television, many late-night hosts rely on a team of writers to craft the material that brings their shows to life. Late-night hosts, known for their witty monologues and engaging interviews, usually work closely with a team of writers to develop their content. This collaborative effort allows the host to shine in the spotlight with fresh, entertaining material from a skilled writing team’s creativity and expertise.
On comedian Patton Oswalt’s 2007 comedy album, Werewolves and Lollipops, he divulges that he is frequently hired to ghostwrite screenplays for Hollywood projects. He is paid to “punch up” jokes for scripts to make them more appealing and sharpen jokes that aren’t working.
Hollywood films usually go through several writers before they’re brought to the screen, and often “script doctors” are brought in just before shooting. Script doctors are screenwriters brought on to address specific issues with a script before production, or to help a troubled production get back on track. They can change up parts for actors, tighten up the dialogue, bring more energy and rapid pacing to the action, or even alter the story. They are usually paid well for their anonymity and are trusted to get the script into shape before the movie shoots.
Other Industries that Hire “Secret” Writers
While ghostwriting is usually associated with celebrities and memoirs, it shows up in far more places than people realize. Social media influencers use writers to keep up with the constant demand for content. Tech CEOs rely on them to turn things that make perfect sense in their own heads into something other people can understand. It’s common for doctors and lawyers to need help translating what they know into language the general public can follow without a glossary. Even in fields like fitness, wellness, and real estate, writers often create the messaging that keeps an audience interested.
Many professional athletes are busy doing the thing they are famous for, but they still have stories to tell. In all of these cases, the goal isn’t to fake a story, but to tell one that is usable. Ghostwriters are like interpreters or conduits, helping other people say what they mean without having to become writers themselves.
And Another Thing
“The analogy I always draw is in the old days, nobody would ever admit to internet dating, and now everybody talks about it. In the old days, nobody would ever admit to working with a ghostwriter or collaborator, and now, it’s accepted, by and large.”
- Madeleine Morel, Literary Agent, 2M Communications Ltd.
Think of a clothing designer who has gained attention for her innovative and beautiful clothing. As he ventures further into his career and collaborates on a new collection, he finds himself unable to be the hands-on seamster. So, he brings in a team, including an executive seamstress to manage his patterns and designs, freeing up his time for other pursuits. While he occasionally returns to the sewing machine, the executive seamstress and her team, for the most part, interpret the designer’s style and craft the garments that align with it.
A ghostwriter operates much like the executive seamstress. Familiar with your preferences, from pronunciation nuances to the direction of your work — or in this case, your book or article — she comprehends where it’s headed.
Writing for another person is a practice that goes back to Ancient Greece.[4] It has long been an established and accepted practice in the publishing and speech-writing world. Some literary experts (others call them “conspiracy theorists”) maintain that William Shakespeare employed a stable of ghostwriters to help him produce the monumental number of plays attributed to him.
Today, delivering an effective speech can help advance a politician’s or executive’s career by demonstrating strong communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills. Because of this potential to boost career growth, the people who write these speeches are crucial. These writers are the architects of a public image, their policy communication and voice. They write to create effective connections with the public. There is money and power attached to those words. While the ideas in the speech may come from the politician, the speechwriter shapes them and finds the words to create the most impactful statement.
So, What’s Wrong With Having AI Write for Me?
“Humans live, they walk through the world; they experience joy, regret, embarrassment, self-loathing, fear, euphoria — and from all that experience they write, or paint, or compose. They create human to human connection by sharing stories and truths and emotions through art.
AI can only copy that art, repurpose it, and now, try to monetize it
AI is the replacement of human creativity with theft.
We believe that any future policy on AI must be grounded in three principles: consent, compensation, and protection of jobs for humans. AI has the great potential to assist the creative community as they make their art — but it must not serve to further threaten writers and the integrity of our work.”
-Writer’s Guild of America West5 President, Meredith Stiehm, September 2023[5]
Can you write a book with AI?
Ghostwriters have had a front row seat to the rise of AI in our industry. A few years ago, there was a rash of advertisements claiming that AI could help people turn their ideas into income-generating books in just one day. The promise was that with the right prompts and tools, anyone could produce a market-ready book in no time. AI was presented as the future of authorship, and the message was that the process didn’t require talent or skill; it was just a shortcut.
If you have ever looked into it, you have probably seen some pretty incredible claims about using AI to go “FROM IDEA TO COMPLETED EBOOK, PRINT BOOK, AND AUDIOBOOK IN JUST A FEW HOURS.”
The results were predictable to writers, and unfortunately, people wasted money and time on these programs. And just as quickly as they popped up, the programs began to fade or shift toward hybrid models, because the quality of what was delivered was wretched.
So, the short answer is, “Yes, you can certainly write your book with AI.”
But don’t.
AI still reads artificial, even as it aims for effortless and authentic. It sounds nothing like you.
No, it doesn’t.
Actually, I Don’t Have a Problem with AI
As Tony Soprano so poetically said, you can’t put the shit back in the donkey, so for me, the idea is to learn to shake hands with AI instead of giving it the finger. While AI can be a valuable tool in the writing process, I believe the smart writer will use it as a complement to research, insight, and ethical considerations rather than a replacement. At this time, AI still has many limitations that make it an ineffective means of producing high-quality, meaningful work.
Writers are in demand, and good writers are even more so because of AI. As a writer, I have to be a little opinionated about this, and AI writing is, in my opinion, worse than bad writing. It uses cloyingly ornate language while still not saying much of anything. It’s all frosting, no cake.[6]
It can’t ask questions to dig deeper into your stories.
It can’t express the emotional part of your story.
It has no soul. A ghostwriter not only has a soul, they also know how to connect with other souls.
At this point, you can’t sound original or unique using AI to write your content. Even with incredibly specific instructions, the AI still reads generic and low-quality. The language is recycled and unoriginal and doesn’t sound like you or any real person.
If you have an idea for a book, please write it — even if it is awful. If all you have are bullet points you need to develop, just get those down. AI can be great when you are stuck. Go ask it a question to help you brainstorm and get unstuck, but use your own ideas and rewrite everything it gives you.
Beyond the authorship debate, there are real liabilities in having AI speak for you unchecked. It is more confident than it should be, while producing information that is sometimes flat-out wrong.[7] AI often misunderstands context and completely misses cultural nuance. And there’s always the risk of unintentional plagiarism, pulling from sources you can’t fully see or verify. This doesn’t make it useless, but it is a dangerous tool if you treat it as a substitute for your own thinking. If you are claiming work as your own, you don’t get to outsource the responsibility for its content.
The Best News About AI
AI requires us all to be more creative. We have to be better writers than we were before. AI tells are becoming easy to spot at twenty paces. Even words I used to happily use now seem tainted.[8] But I have learned to love reaching for new words and ways to get my point across.
So, don’t avoid AI. There is a way to use it responsibly. Play with it, learn how to use it and what it can do, and have fun. But for the love of god, don’t give it any sensitive information, and understand that it is not completely reliable.[9] AI is still learning how to learn. (And yes, that is just as creepy as it sounds.)
In the end, this isn’t really a debate about whether someone had help writing. It’s about what we value in the work itself. Ghostwriting has always been a collaborative act built on trust and interpretation. It is a deliberate, human process that depends on listening and connection. AI can generate language, but it doesn’t know how to be part of that process. No matter how advanced technology becomes, it is still only a mimic.
Ghostwriting has been here before, and if what’s past is prologue, which it usually is, it will be here again, with or without AI. The honesty and authenticity of what we do will be questioned over and over again. All AI brings is speed, scale, and the illusion that something meaningful can be created without human effort behind it.
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