The Ethics of AI-Generated Literature: Originality, Authorship, and Literary Value in the Age of Large Language Models

Abstract

The advent of sophisticated large language models capable of generating poetry and fiction has fundamentally challenged traditional conceptions of authorship, originality, and literary value. This paper examines whether AI-generated literature can be considered original creative work and analyzes the implications for authorship in literary theory and practice. Through an examination of recent empirical studies, legal frameworks, and theoretical foundations from Roland Barthes's "Death of the Author" to contemporary digital humanities scholarship, this analysis reveals that AI-generated literature exists in a liminal space between human creativity and algorithmic reproduction. While AI systems can produce texts that are indistinguishable from human-written works to non-expert readers, questions of originality and authorship remain deeply problematic. The paper argues that AI-generated literature challenges but does not necessarily invalidate traditional notions of authorship, instead requiring new frameworks for understanding creative collaboration between humans and machines. The implications extend beyond literary theory to questions of intellectual property, educational integrity, and the fundamental nature of creative expression in the digital age.