🔗 Share this article

A pair of award-winning Kiwi authors have had their books excluded from consideration for the country's esteemed literature award due to the utilization of AI in designing their cover art.

Exclusion Details

Stephanie Johnson's short story collection "Obligate Carnivore" and Elizabeth Smither's short novel set "Angel Train" were submitted for the Ockham 2026 literary prizes and its $65,000 New Zealand dollar fiction prize in October, but were ruled out the next month because of recently introduced guidelines concerning AI usage.

The publisher of the two books, Quentin Wilson, stated that the awards organizers amended the criteria in the eighth month, by which point the cover designs for every entered book would have previously been completed.

“It was, therefore, far too late for any publisher to have taken this clause into account in their design briefs,” the publisher said.

Authors' Responses

The author expressed understanding for the prize organizers, saying she has deep concerns about artificial intelligence in creative industries, but was let down by the ruling.

“It would be untrue to claim I am not upset by this,” she commented. “It’s my 22nd book, and it is my fourth collection of short stories. These stories … were written over a sort of 20 year period, so for me, it’s quite an important book.”

Johnson further stated that authors usually have minimal involvement in cover artwork and was did not know AI had been employed for her book cover, which displays a cat with human teeth.

“I believed it was an actual cat photo with superimposed teeth, but that was not the case,” Johnson said, noting that unlike younger age groups, she finds it difficult to recognize AI-generated graphics.

The writer feared that the public might assume she employed AI to write her work, which she emphatically did not do.

“Instead of talking about my book … and what the inspiration was, we are talking about bloody AI, which I hate.”

In a statement, Elizabeth Smither expressed that the designers spent hours crafting her book's cover, which includes a locomotive and an celestial figure partially hidden by smoke, influenced by artist Marc Chagall's imagery.

“It is them I am most concerned about: that their meticulous work … is being disrespected,” Smither stated.

Award Trust's Position

Nicola Legat, chair of the award foundation that administers the prizes, affirmed the organization takes a strong position on the application of artificial intelligence in publications.”

“We do not make such a decision lightly, one that bars the newest works by two of New Zealand's most respected authors from the 2026 prize,” she stated.

“However, the criteria apply to all entrants, regardless of their mana [status], and must be consistently applied to all.”

The move to revise the artificial intelligence guidelines was driven by a desire to support the creative and intellectual property interests of the country's writers and artists, she explained.

“With artificial intelligence advancing, the trust may need to review and refine these criteria in the future.”

Publishing Reflections

The publisher pointed out that publishers and authors often use tools like grammar checkers and image editors, which incorporate AI, and this situation underscored the pressing requirement for well-defined guidelines.

“As an industry, we must work together to ensure that this situation does not happen again.”

Both Smither and Stephanie Johnson have in the past been jurors for sections of the prizes, and both emphasized that cover designs receive little attention during evaluation.

“The text itself and its detailed analysis were all that mattered,” the author concluded.

The use of AI in creative sectors has faced increasing examination as the tech advances, with some groups creating methods to counter its influence.