Helping Authors Embrace AI: An Interview with Trip Adler, Founder of Created by Humans

Over the last two years, there has been a lot of concern about the use of AI in publishing, particularly for authors. Some of the reported issues include tech companies using pirated ebooks to train Large Language Models, larger concerns around licensing and copyright, publishers looking into adding AI rights to contracts, and even writers being out of a job because AI will soon be writing books and articles directly.

With news stories causing anxiety and the chasm between authors and technology companies widening, this was a good moment for Created by Humans to emerge to bridge the divide. Founded by Trip Adler, Edward Igushev, and Jen Singerman, Created by Humans is a licensing platform which allows authors to make money by licensing their work to technology companies that would use their books, articles, and reports to train LLMs.

We sat down with Adler to talk about how Created by Humans can help authors take advantage of opportunities to have more control of their work, to receive some financial benefit, and to connect with new audiences.

The idea for the licensing platform started because the co-founders, who have backgrounds in technology and also experience working with authors at Scribd (Adler was CEO and Springerman was VP of Marketing and Communications), saw a problem forming in the industry and knew a lot of people on both sides of the discussion. They saw themselves in a unique position to bring these two parties together and find a way for both to benefit from the relationship.

Created by Humans is currently only working with authors, solidifying a partnership with the Authors Guild and working with some big-name and bestselling authors who have struggled with piracy in the past, including Susan Orlean, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Walter Isaacson, and Douglas Preston. Isaacson and Preston are also investors in the platform.

Once authors create an account, then they can decide which books they want to license, set licensing restrictions on how the book content can be used, and make sure that they are comfortable with what content is being used and how it is being used and the financial benefit.

Adler sees this as an exciting new business model and a great opportunity for authors to take control of how their voices and work are being used while also using these AI platforms to find a new audience of readers.

While the authors who have been testing the platform are engaged and enthusiastic, according to Adler, Preston noted one concern in an interview he did with The New York Times about the platform.

“It could be that A.I. starts creating works that are directly competing with me in the marketplace,” he said, “and I certainly wouldn’t want that.”

It’s still early days in development and in many cases Created by Humans is setting precedent in areas where none has previously existed, but all parties seem to be mostly optimistic about the opportunities while still keeping an eye open for potential pitfalls.

Though the focus currently is on working with authors, Created by Humans will be expanding out to publishers and agents soon as well as working with other areas of the business, including scholarly publishing.

Adler notes that now is a really important moment for publishers and books where they can help develop a whole new business model that will create a “new golden age of publishing.”

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