Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 7: Net Era (1990s)

1993

Just This Once by Scott French

Artwork

The title page of the 1993 first edition of Just This Once, reading 'Just This Once / Scott French / A Birch Lane Press Book, Published by Carol Publishing Group'. This is the title page, not the dust jacket.
The title page of the 1993 first edition of Just This Once, reading 'Just This Once / Scott French / A Birch Lane Press Book, Published by Carol Publishing Group'. This is the title page, not the dust jacket. Title page of Scott French, Just This Once (New York: Birch Lane Press / Carol Publishing Group, 1993). Open Library / Internet Archive.

Just This Once is a computer-generative romance novel authored by a Macintosh IIcx computer named “Hal” in collaboration with programmer Scott French. The radical reinterpretation of the novel and authorship challenged literary norms. French, investing $40,000 and 8 years, developed an AI program to mimic Valley of the Dolls novelist Jacqueline Susann’s writing style. Hal’s output, after significant editing, produced the novel’s plot and style. Eventually, legal disputes with Susann’s estate over copyright were settled, leading to its publication by Carol Publishing Group. Despite mixed reviews, it sparked discussions in legal circles on copyright law’s applicability to computer-generated creative works that anticipate and mirror those questions raised today by AI. Just This Once remains a testament to the intersection of technology and literature, blurring the lines of authorship.

Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.

Sources

People

Jacqueline Susann, Scott French

Movements

Computer Text, generative literature, Generative Poetry

Filed under

Ideas
ai authorship, authorship, collaboration, Computer Text, copyright, generative literature, Generative Poetry, human machine collaboration, literature
Technologies
artificial intelligence, Macintosh, Macintosh IIcx
People
Jacqueline Susann, Scott French
Works
Just This Once
Organisations
Carol Publishing Group

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