13 Great Questions to Ask About AI

I asked a lot of questions when I took a class on artificial intelligence and ghostwriting. One of the important lessons I learned is that AI is here to stay, that ghostwriters can use it to help their processes (without outsourcing the writing to it), and that there’s a need to disclose to clients how ghostwriters use (or will use) AI.

Prospective clients deserve to know how a ghostwriter plans to use AI. To say, “I don’t want you to use AI at all,” is almost impossible because the ghostwriter is already using it. Checking spelling? That uses AI technology. Searching on Google? Chances are the query will show an AI overview courtesy of Google’s Gemini program.

The goal isn’t to decide whether AI is good or bad. It’s to understand how it might affect a client’s book, ideas, reputation, privacy, and the quality of the finished manuscript.

Before hiring a ghostwriter, consider asking these twenty questions.

Question 1. How do you use AI in your ghostwriting process? Some ghostwriters never use AI, but unless the ghostwriter is completely analog in writing, interviewing, and researching, it’s near impossible to find someone. Others use it for brainstorming, outlining, organizing ideas, or editing suggestions. There’s no single right answer, but you should know how the ghostwriter approaches it. And you must approve of the methods.

Ideally, everything is put into the contract. Clients should ask for that.

Question 2. Can AI actually write my book? Technically, yes, but that runs into a slew of problems, not the least of which is some publishers will refuse to touch it, and AI text is not copyrightable. AI is good to generate readable text, summarize information, and suggest ideas. But it cannot replace your experiences, judgment, memories, or perspective. A memorable book still depends on your story, and a ghostwriter has the experience and skills to pull that out of you.

Question 3. How do you verify AI-generated information? AI sometimes invents facts, quotations, dates, statistics, and even sources (they’re called hallucinations). If AI contributes to research or drafting, the ghostwriter should independently verify every factual claim before it appears in your manuscript.

My AI course instructor, Michael Long said Claude has gotten sophisticated enough that if you ask it to prove the sources it gave are legit, it often comes back with an apology for hallucinating. That still means the ghostwriter should verify everything, and the client needs to demand the ghostwriter will.

Question 4. Will my confidential information remain private? Writing a book often involves sharing personal stories, financial information, business strategies, or unpublished ideas. Ask how your ghostwriter protects confidential information and whether any of it will ever be entered into an AI platform.

You also should know this, per Michael Long: Assume anything put into AI will be used for training purposes. Never put anything like bank info or social security numbers in AI. I never do.

Question 5. Who owns the finished manuscript? Copyright law surrounding AI-generated content continues to evolve. You should ask your ghostwriter to clearly explain who owns the manuscript and how any AI assistance, if used, affects ownership. And that info should be in the contract.

The best bet is to check with the U.S. Copyright Office. For now, though, AI can’t be the author, copyrights protect a human’s work, AI assistance doesn’t automatically disqualify work from copyrights, and publishers might have their own policies.

Question 6. What’s the difference between using AI as a tool and letting AI write the book? There’s a huge difference between asking AI to suggest interview questions and asking it to write chapters.

Personally, I won’t use AI to write, but I will use it to edit and to help me see patterns, relationships, issues, and insights I missed. Then I will write more.

Question 7. Will my book still sound like me? It had better! Readers buy nonfiction because they want to hear the author’s voice—not a machine’s. You should ask how your ghostwriter ensures your personality, word choices, and life experiences remain front and center.

As a former journalist, I quote my clients verbatim, increasing the likelihood that they will recognize themselves in my ghostwritten copy.

Question 8. Does AI actually make the process better? I would say AI makes the process more efficient. AI can speed up brainstorming, organizing information, or generating alternative wording. Used thoughtfully, it won’t compromising the ghostwriter’s quality.

Question 9. Where does AI fall short? AI is not human. It cannot understand nuance, subtlety, emotion, and other unique human features. It does not have life experience and the judgment and wisdom that comes with it. Those qualities still come from you—and from a skilled ghostwriter who knows how to get them out of your head and onto the page.

What AI can do is predict language patterns. AI systems are trained on ginormous collections of existing writing, so it used probability to determine what word or punctuation mark likely would go next. That’s why it reads basic, normal, and drab. It’s the mean, the median, the average. 

Ghostwriters like me help clients like you rise above the average.

Question 10. Can AI introduce bias? Yes. AI reflects patterns found in its training data, which was written by humans. Since humans have biases, those might influence wording, examples, assumptions, or perspectives. Human review remains essential, and that’s what a ghostwriter can do.

Question 11. Should I trust AI-generated research? Not completely. AI sometimes overlooks important context that a human would recognize. It also might oversimplify complex issues to the point that it makes no sense, and it is known to confidently present hallucinations as correct information. Every fact should be independently verified by a human, i.e. your ghostwriter.

Question 12. Why do I still need a human ghostwriter? No, but see Question No. 2 above. 

If you want a superior book, a ghostwriter does so much more than write sentences. He or she is a professional interviewer who asks the right questions that uncovers stories, identifies themes, organizes ideas, asks difficult questions, solves structural problems, and helps you communicate with readers in ways AI can’t. Then the ghostwriter uses storytelling skills based on your experiences to write the book in the most compelling way possible. AI doesn’t inherently know what is “most compelling.” It can only use probability to guess, and it might be wrong.

Question 13. Is AI replacing ghostwriters? No. My class taught me something important: AI needs direction. That’s why it isn’t going to take my job. 

AI is changing how ghostwriters work, but clients still hire ghostwriters because they want someone who can listen deeply, ask insightful questions, organize years of experience, capture an authentic voice, and turn ideas into a compelling book. Those remain distinctly human skills.

The best ghostwriters understand that AI is a tool. It’s not a substitute for experience, judgment, empathy, curiosity, or storytelling. They know when technology can make the writing process more efficient and when it risks diminishing the story.

Readers won’t buy your book because it was written quickly. They’ll buy because they want to learn something, feel something, or connect with your experiences. AI may help behind the scenes, but it cannot live your life, tell your story, or earn your readers’ trust. That’s why hiring the right ghostwriter remains one of the most important decisions you can make.

If you’re thinking about a book and want to talk through whether we’d be a good fit, take a look at some of my other posts on ghostwriting at https://leebarnathan.com/blog/ or reach out directly to set up a conversation.