While George R.R. Martin‘s loyal followers are eagerly waiting for the release of his next book, The Winds of Winter, Penguin Random House is facing backlash for using AI in the new illustrated version of A Feast for Crows.
The publishing house released the 20th anniversary edition of the book in hopes of making the fandom happy, but with the growing trend of AI being used in almost every corner of the world, fans were quick to speculate that some of the book’s elements were made using AI.
The usual signs were there: weird backgrounds, repeating textures, and AI’s problem with generating hands and feet.
look what they did to my A Feast for Crows man 💔
who decided to use AI garbage in series with some of the most talented fanart artists in the world 🥀 pic.twitter.com/cgyuLAIjBm
Due to the immense criticism received on social media, Martin’s team had to step in and try to clear the air surrounding the controversy. In a statement posted on the author’s blog, Raya Golden stated that she is responsible for “approving all the licensed art that accompanies our SOI&F book driven materials“, and added that AI wasn’t used in the artwork, as per their knowledge.
She said (via Not a Blog),
To our knowledge and as presented by the artist who completed the work in question there was NO such programming used. While he is a digital multimedia artist and relies on digital programming to complete his work, he has expressed unequivocally that no AI was used, and we believe him.
At the end, Golden asserted that they have never, and will never, “willingly work with AI generative artists in any way shape or form.” She manages the art direction and licensing development at Fevre River and has been working closely with Martin.
Lawsuit Against OpenAI That George R.R. Martin is Involved In
George R.R. Martin has been in the business for as long as one can remember, which is why it’s not shocking that he would be against the use of AI. In fact, he is one of the 17 authors who have sued OpenAI for “systematic theft on a mass scale” (via Independent).
Back in 2023, papers were filed in a federal court in New York, where authors alleged, “flagrant and harmful infringements of plaintiffs’ registered copyrights“, accusing ChatGPT of being a “massive commercial enterprise” that relies on “systematic theft on a mass scale.“
The lawsuit was organized by the Authors Guild. Apart from Martin, it includes John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, Sylvia Day, Jonathan Franzen, and more. It cited the specific searches for each author, including Martin, after which the program generated “an infringing, unauthorised, and detailed outline for a prequel” for Martin’s Game of Thrones, titling it A Dawn of Direwolves. It also used existing characters from his books.
Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger released a statement:
It is imperative that we stop this theft in its tracks or we will destroy our incredible literary culture, which feeds many other creative industries in the US. Great books are generally written by those who spend their careers and, indeed, their lives, learning and perfecting their crafts. To preserve our literature, authors must have the ability to control if and how their works are used by generative AI.
Recently, OpenAI was denied its early request to dismiss the authors’ claims by a NY federal judge (via Reuters). U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein stated that the authors could prove that ChatGPT produces content similar to their work.
What Is the Update on George R.R. Martin’s Winds of Winter?
As Martin’s team fights against AI claims, his fans are waiting for one thing and only one thing: an update on his sixth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series – The Winds of Winter.
Back in 2010, Martin had completed four chapters from the viewpoints of Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, and Arianne Martell (via The Week). He had moved two chapters from the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, into Winds of Winter, calling it “good news” for the planned book.
In July of that year, he revealed that he had completed 100 pages. For those who don’t know, the book is expected to have over 1,500 pages by the time of its completion. In 2022, he admitted that 1,100 or 1,200 pages had been written, with 400, 500 to go.
He stated that part of the reason behind the delay is his tendency to rewrite the pages. Martin admitted that he found himself “re-reading some chapters that I’d written earlier, and I didn’t like them well enough, so I kind of ripped them apart and rewrote them.“
Last year, in July, he had a stern message for impatient fans who went into detective mode after finding out that he had a meeting with one of his editors in London. He stated that it did not “signify that some momentous announcement is at hand“, and that when the time comes, “the word will not trickle out, there WILL be a big announcement…where and when I cannot say.”
The most recent update came in October 2025, when he gave “perhaps the clearest and most brutal sign yet that the book remains unfinished.” He referenced the above-mentioned lawsuit, stating, “[You] can’t outlaw new technology. You can try, people have tried throughout history, but it’s here to stay.”
Martin added, “No computer will ever write ‘The Winds of Winter’” and that it “serves as a clear indicator that the human writing process is still incomplete.” Clearly, there is still a long way to go before the fans have the book in their hands. Hopefully, it will be worth the wait.
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