AI-Authored Books Trigger Publishing Disputes in Italy

The Italian publishing scene has seen two high‑profile cases involving artificial‑intelligence‑generated manuscripts. In March, the experimental work "Ipnocrazia" was released by the independent publisher Tlon, described by its creator as the first book entirely written by a generative language model. Readers noted that the text alternated between coherent argumentation and repetitive passages, prompting debate over the artistic and ethical limits of AI‑driven literature.

A separate incident involved the crime novel "Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body" by university student Jerry Falade. The manuscript attracted bids from fourteen editors and was sold in a rapid auction to Minotaur Books, a Macmillan imprint, for a reported $2 million advance. The deal was later halted after the agency representing the author could not verify whether AI tools had been used in writing or editing the text. Falade denies any AI involvement and alleges the controversy reflects bias against Black authors. The book’s release has been postponed.