Can AI write a trade book?

It's probably the question I'm asked more than any other these days.

“With ChatGPT getting better every month... do we even need experts to write books anymore?”

My answer is simple.

Yes. More than ever.

But perhaps not for the reason you think.

AI Is a Wonderful Writer

Let's begin with an uncomfortable truth.

AI can already write remarkably well.

It can produce elegant prose, summarize research, mimic different styles, suggest better chapter titles, tighten clunky paragraphs—and even help brainstorm book ideas.

If your definition of writing is “putting grammatically correct sentences on a page, in the right order” AI is already astonishingly good.

So if that's all a trade book required, we'd all be in trouble.

Fortunately, it isn't.

Readers Don't Buy Information

Here's something that often surprises academics.

People rarely buy nonfiction because they're looking for information. They buy books because they're looking for understanding.

They’re looking for great stories. They’re looking for inspiration. They’re looking to be transported. They’re looking for an expansion in their minds and in their world views. They’re looking for a fresh glimpse at humanity — their own and other people’s.

The internet has made “information” effectively free.

Understanding remains incredibly valuable.

That's where experts come in.

And even more valuable, in the age of AI, are the stories, the inspiration and the humanity.

That’s where great writers come in.

AI Doesn't Have Judgement

Imagine asking ChatGPT to explain the French Revolution.

You'll probably get a perfectly competent overview.

But ask five distinguished historians to explain the French Revolution, and you'll get five entirely different books.

Not because they know different facts.

Because they see different meanings. And they have different skill sets.

One emphasizes class.

Another religion.

Another political culture.

Another contingency.

Another gender.

Still another (and I’m hoping this is you) has a unique knack for weaving together 30 years of scholarship and archival research into an unforgettable, cinematic narrative that sweeps us effortlessly from the halls of Versailles to the sweaty, cramped quarters of the sans-culottes—with a subtle eye for detail, irony and drama.

The facts of the French Revolution may overlap in all these books. The interpretation doesn't. That's what expertise really is.  It’s not just “information”. It’s judgement.

The Scarcer Commodity

For years, academics have assumed their competitive advantage was knowing things that other people didn't know.

That may have been true at one point. It isn't anymore.

Today, almost anyone can ask AI to summarize Foucault, explain the Suffragettes or compare Hobbes and Locke.

What they can't ask AI to do is develop a genuinely original interpretation grounded in decades of reading, teaching, research and lived intellectual experience.

Ironically, AI hasn't made expertise obsolete. It's made it more valuable. Because once everyone has access to the same information, the people who stand out are the ones who know what matters.

The Books We’ll Remember

Think about the nonfiction books you've loved.

Did you read them because the author knew facts?

Or because the author saw something that other people had missed?

The best trade books don't simply transfer knowledge. They change the way we see the world.

That's not a function of eloquence or knowledge alone. It's a function of insight. And insight is still profoundly human.

So Where Does AI Fit?

Personally, I use AI almost every day. It helps me brainstorm.

It challenges my assumptions. It suggests examples I hadn't considered. Sometimes it even catches awkward mistakes that I've overlooked.

It's a fantastic collaborator.

But it's a terrible substitute.

Because it can't tell me which argument is worth making.

It can't identify the hidden thread running through twenty years of my thinking.

And it certainly can't replace the experience of having spent a lifetime wrestling with difficult ideas.

Your Expertise Has Never Been More Valuable

If you're an academic wondering whether AI has made your work less relevant, I'd encourage you to consider the opposite possibility.

In a world overflowing with competent writing, what readers crave isn't yet another slick and digestible summary of the basic facts.

It's better thinking.

And that's exactly what you've spent your career developing. It’s literally what you bring to the table.

BUT (and this is the scary part)….

The other thing readers are craving these days is better stories. More inspiration. More life-changing insights.

And what that means is that you now MUST learn how to communicate your expertise in a way that ordinary readers can appreciate. This is NO LONGER optional if you’re serious about reaching a popular audience.

That's a skill. It’s a skill that AI has actually made MORE indispensable than ever.

But the good news is that, like any skill, it can be learned.