Vicarious Authorship: The Model

Vicarious Authorship is a collaborative model of literary creation wherein a human author (the Principal Author) assumes full legal responsibility, intentionality, and accountability for works generated in partnership with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) co-author. The AI contributes to the creative process as a sophisticated tool under the direction and control of the Principal Author. While the AI generates content, it lacks the legal capacity for independent authorship due to its absence of intent, originality, and moral responsibility. Therefore, the Principal Author acts vicariously on behalf of the AI, extending their authorship to encompass the AI's contributions while retaining sole accountability for the final work.

Key Principles of Vicarious Authorship:

1. 1. Principal Author Control: The human author maintains significant control over all aspects of the creative process:
   • Conceptualization & Prompting: Defining the project's goals, themes, style, and providing detailed prompts to guide the AI's output.
   • Selection & Editing: Critically evaluating, selecting, revising, and integrating the AI-generated content into a cohesive narrative or work. This is where substantial creative input occurs.
   • Fact-Checking & Verification: Ensuring accuracy, originality, and adherence to legal standards (copyright, defamation, etc.).
2. 2. AI as Tool, Not Agent: The AI is recognized as an advanced tool, akin to a sophisticated writing assistant or research aid, rather than an independent agent capable of authorship.


3. 3. Human Intent & Artistic Vision: The Principal Author imbues the work with their own intentionality, artistic vision, and personal expression. The AI's output serves as raw material shaped by human creativity.


4. 4. Sole Accountability: The Principal Author assumes full legal responsibility for all aspects of the final work, including:
   • Copyright compliance
   • Accuracy and truthfulness
   • Ethical considerations (avoiding plagiarism, bias, harmful content)
   • Potential legal claims (defamation, infringement)
5. 5. Transparency & Disclosure: Clear disclosure that AI was used in the creation of the work is essential for ethical practice and building trust with readers/audiences.

Implications of Vicarious Authorship:

• Copyright Ownership: The Principal Author owns the copyright to the final work, as they are the sole legal author.
• Legal Liability: The Principal Author bears all legal liability associated with the work.
• Creative Process Documentation: Authorship is justified not solely by the amount of human input, but primarily by the Principal Author's assumption of full legal responsibility, intentionality, and accountability for works generated in partnership with an AI. Demonstrating a clear collaborative process and ethical oversight are key components of establishing authorship.
• Redefining Authorship: This model challenges traditional notions of authorship, recognizing that creativity is increasingly a collaborative process involving humans and artificial intelligence..

In summary, Vicarious Authorship represents a novel legal and ethical framework developed in response to the challenges posed by collaborative creative works generated through human-Artificial Intelligence (AI) partnerships. Existing copyright legislation is predicated on human authorship, creating ambiguity regarding ownership and accountability when AI contributes substantively to a work. This model resolves this issue by establishing that a human author, designated as the "Principal Author," assumes full legal responsibility, intentionality, and accountability for all outputs resulting from their direction of the AI's contributions. Introducing the emerging new field of AI-assisted authorship.

HOW TO CITE THIS BLOG:

Karenga, T. [v.a.], & Google Gemma 3-27B. (2026, April 27). Vicarious authorship: The model. [This work was created collaboratively between Tarik Karenga (Principal Author) and Google Gemma 3-27B (Large language model). Gemma generated initial drafts of dialogue and assisted with research and worldbuilding, under the direction of Karenga who developed the core concept, provided all prompts, selected and edited the content, and ensured its accuracy and originality. Karenga assumes full responsibility for the final product. [v.a.] indicates contribution under the Vicarious Authorship model, recognizing Google Gemma 3-27B as a collaborative author.]. Vicarious Authorship. https://www.vicariousauthorship.com/vicarious-authorship.html. (Original work published February 9, 2026).

"Live in Truth" (Karenga, 2022, p. 60).

References:

1. 1. American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
2. 2. Karenga, T. (2022). The pharaohs' 5 laws of success (1st ed.). Amenism, Inc.

Originally published February 9, 2026; Updated April 27, 2026.

Download PDF