370 books in 20 months: South African author defends her use of AI - EWN

South African writer Coral Hart has published more than 370 books since February 2025 using artificial intelligence, a process she passionately defends despite criticism and threats.

"Grifter", "villain" -- insults abound on social media to describe the author who, in her forties, has become the symbol of AI's arrival in publishing.

Coral Hart -- a pseudonym she uses to protect her real name -- told AFP in an interview she had received "tens of thousands" of hate messages and several death threats.

In this hostile environment, few authors using AI agree to speak publicly and show their faces.

"I chose to be the one to step up and say, these are conversations we need to start having," Hart said.

"This is here... They're not going to switch it off or unplug it because a bunch of authors said so."

Before she started writing with AI around 20 months ago, Hart had been working in publishing for 14 years and written several dozen works without the technology.