What AI 'slop' sounds like

Last week, book publisher Hachette canceled the forthcoming U.S. publication of the horror novel “Shy Girl” after it was flagged for sounding like the author used artificial intelligence. Andrea Bartz, novelist, author of The Last Ferry Out (Ballantine Books, 2025), discusses her latest guest op-ed in The New York Times on the controversy and what its like being a writer in the A.I. age.

Photo: Barnes And Noble bookstore in Manhattan, New York, United States of America, on July 5th, 2024. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)