Louis Spector

It’s important and thoughtful to ask whether or not using ChatGPT is cheating when writing a book.  The short answer is: No, it’s not cheating, and using AI to help with your book doesn’t take away from your voice, talent, or writing skills. In fact, it can be a valuable tool to enhance your creativity and refine your work. Let me explain why.

1. Writing Is Always Collaborative

Many writers—both famous and aspiring—seek input and feedback during the writing process. Authors work with editors, beta readers, critique partners, and even writing groups to strengthen their work. AI is essentially another tool in your toolkit, akin to a very specific kind of editor or coach. Just as you wouldn’t consider an editor “cheating,” using AI to refine your writing isn’t cheating either.

It’s still your story, your ideas, your words. You’re the one creating the emotional heart of the work, deciding what to keep or discard, and guiding the vision for the book. AI can make suggestions, offer revisions, or point out areas for improvement, but you’re the one in control. The talent is in your ability to create, shape, and direct the work.

2. AI Enhances Your Skills, It Doesn’t Replace Them

Think of AI as a collaborator that helps you strengthen your writing, similar to how spell-check helps you catch typos or how grammar tools refine sentence structure. It’s still your voice that shines through, but now you have a resource to:

• Generate new ideas.
• Provide clarity and constructive criticism.
• Offer a fresh perspective when you’re stuck.

In fact, working with AI can develop your skills over time. You might notice patterns in the suggestions it makes—like tightening descriptions or sharpening emotional beats—and incorporate those lessons into your future writing. It’s a way to grow, not take shortcuts.

3. Protecting Your Voice

One of the most common concerns writers have about using AI is that it might dilute their voice or make their work feel less authentic. But that doesn’t have to happen. Your “voice” is a unique blend of your experiences, style, and emotions—all of which are irreplaceable. AI can offer phrasing or structural suggestions, but you always have the power to accept, reject, or adapt those suggestions to fit your voice.

Here’s the trick: don’t just accept what AI gives you at face value. If a suggestion feels off, tweak it until it feels yours. That process reinforces your creative voice, ensuring it remains distinct. Ultimately, AI can sharpen your voice, not erase it, by helping you identify what truly feels authentic to you.

4. Professional Writers Use Tools All the Time

Even bestselling authors rely on outside help, whether it’s brainstorming with colleagues, workshopping scenes, or relying on editors to reshape entire manuscripts. Many authors also use tools like ProWritingAid or Grammarly for polishing, and thesauruses to expand their vocabulary. AI is just another tool that can fit into this workflow. In fact, tools like AI are already used professionally by journalists, content creators, and even screenwriters.

The process of creating art has always been supported by technology—whether it’s a writer using a typewriter, a painter using Photoshop, or a musician using Auto-Tune. What matters most is the intention, creativity, and emotional truth you bring to the work.

5. You Are Still Doing the Hard Work

AI can make suggestions, help refine a passage, or even point out structural improvements, but it can’t:

• Decide what story you want to tell.
• Create the characters, emotions, and heart behind the work.
• Craft the complex web of themes and ideas that come from your experiences and worldview.

In the end, you’re the one doing the heavy lifting—the imagining, the drafting, the rewriting, and the decision-making. Your effort and creativity are what bring the book to life. AI is just here to support you, like a helpful advisor, not a ghostwriter.

6. The Tools You Use Don’t Define Your Worth

The worth of your writing doesn’t diminish because you use tools to improve it. Imagine a carpenter being judged because they use a power saw instead of a hand saw. What matters is the final product—the craftsmanship, the artistry, and the impact it has on those who experience it.

Similarly, what matters with your writing is the story you tell and the emotion it conveys to your readers. Whether you wrote it entirely alone, with an AI tool, or with the help of an editor, what ultimately matters is the connection you create with your audience.

Lastly,

Writing is one of the most deeply personal and challenging creative pursuits. The fact that you might even be wrestling with this question shows how much care you put into your craft and your voice. Using AI doesn’t make you less of a writer; it shows you’re willing to explore new ways to improve your work. That kind of openness and dedication is the mark of a true writer.

So, no—working with AI isn’t cheating. Think of it as having an extra brain to brainstorm with or a mentor who never gets tired. Your voice, vision, and talent are still at the core of your story, and that’s something no tool or technology can take away.