From Writing to Framing: Redefining Authorship Through AI-Generated Content

By Michael Kelman Portney

Introduction

The rise of AI-driven content creation has sparked significant shifts in traditional notions of authorship and editorial roles. With the advent of publishing platforms that feature AI-generated content shaped by prompts, the role of the “author” has evolved to encompass a blend of curator, editor, and even publisher. This paper explores how the act of selecting and publishing AI prompts—especially those reflecting the author’s ideas and values—reframes authorship, emphasizing editorial discretion as an expression of autonomy. In this context, the boundaries between creation and curation blur, highlighting new dimensions of agency and self-expression in the digital age.

Authorship and Control

In traditional models, authorship implies direct control over both the content and form of the work, with the author crafting sentences, choosing vocabulary, and structuring narratives to express personal ideas. However, with AI-generated content, the author relinquishes some control over the words themselves, instead shaping the narrative through prompt selection. This curation-based authorship creates an indirect but powerful influence, where the author’s role shifts from constructing every sentence to framing an overarching vision. By deciding what the AI should explore, the author still maintains a fundamental aspect of control, guiding the narrative’s tone and thematic direction.

This shift represents a nuanced form of authorship, where control resides in the framing of ideas rather than in the specific wording. While the AI handles linguistic execution, the author’s intellectual signature remains embedded in the chosen prompts, which function as thematic boundaries for the content.

Editorial Discretion as Autonomy

Editorial discretion plays a pivotal role in this new model of authorship. The choices made regarding which prompts to publish or exclude become reflections of the creator’s values, beliefs, and interests. In this sense, each prompt serves as an act of self-expression. Editorial discretion becomes a form of autonomy because it allows the author to shape public discourse by selectively directing the AI’s exploration of ideas. The choices of what to include—and just as importantly, what to omit—highlight the author’s worldview, underscoring their role as the curator of an intellectual landscape.

In this framework, the author/editor’s autonomy lies not in the generation of specific words but in the thematic direction and content selection, a function traditionally associated with editors or publishers. By carefully choosing prompts that resonate with their perspective, the author asserts control over the narrative while leaving language and structure to the AI. This form of autonomy is a statement of values and perspective, demonstrating that even indirect creative control is a form of authorship.

Reduction of Authorial Ego

Traditional authorship often carries a sense of ownership and ego, with the author identifying strongly with each word and phrase. The prompt-based model of AI content creation, however, disrupts this attachment, as the AI-generated text is not directly “written” by the human author. This shift reduces the author’s attachment to the minutiae of language, focusing instead on broader themes and ideas. It encourages a different kind of creative identity—one where authorship is about guiding ideas rather than crafting sentences.

In this model, authorship becomes less about personal style and more about intellectual direction, a role more akin to a conceptual artist than a writer. This approach encourages authors to think in terms of intellectual exploration rather than stylistic expression, reshaping authorship as a function of thematic influence and narrative guidance rather than linguistic craftsmanship.

Blurring the Lines Between Creation and Curation

In this context, the roles of author, editor, and publisher converge, as the lines between creation and curation blur. The author/editor isn’t just controlling language or narrative structure but is actively shaping a conceptual framework. By curating prompts and selecting which aspects of a topic to explore, the author effectively becomes the architect of an intellectual landscape. This model of authorship places an emphasis on sharing a vision or an idea rather than a concrete narrative, redefining authorship as a synthesis of editorial curation and creative expression.

Curating prompts as a form of authorship transforms the process of writing into a collaborative interaction between human and machine. The author’s choices and the AI’s generative capabilities combine to create a narrative shaped by both human intention and algorithmic interpretation, challenging traditional distinctions between author, editor, and publisher. This framework suggests a model of authorship that transcends conventional boundaries, where the act of selection becomes an authentic creative gesture.

Reflections on Agency and Autonomy in Digital Spaces

Finally, this redefinition of authorship reflects broader questions about agency in the digital age, where content is increasingly generated by algorithms rather than human authors. The human’s power in this context lies in guiding the discourse through the deliberate selection of prompts, steering AI output toward specific themes and ideas. This act of selection is inherently autonomous, as it requires the human author to assert their intellectual agency, even if the resulting content is not directly composed by them.

By choosing prompts that reflect personal ideas and values, the author affirms their role as a shaper of digital narratives, regardless of who—or what—writes the words. This model of authorship places a premium on human intention, demonstrating that even indirect control over AI-driven narratives remains a meaningful contribution. It represents an assertion of human choice and autonomy, reinforcing the importance of human agency in shaping discourse within AI-mediated spaces.

Conclusion

In the prompt-driven, AI-facilitated model of content creation, the role of the author expands beyond the traditional boundaries of writing, editing, and publishing. By focusing on direction, selection, and intent, authorship in this context becomes an act of intellectual and thematic curation rather than linguistic craftsmanship. The creative process shifts from writing to framing, from constructing to guiding, offering a new model of authorship for the digital age. In this framework, editorial discretion becomes an essential form of autonomy, underscoring the human element in AI-generated narratives and affirming the importance of human agency in an increasingly algorithmic world.

---

This structure explores the thought deeply, framing prompt-based authorship as a distinctive new form of creative control. Let me know if this matches what you envisioned or if you'd like to adjust any aspect!