Waterstones would stock books created using artificial intelligence, the company's boss has said, as long as they were clearly labelled, and if customers wanted them.

However, James Daunt, a veteran of the bookselling industry, said he personally did not expect that to happen.

"There's a huge proliferation of AI generated content and most of it are not books that we should be selling," he said.

But it would be "up to the reader".

An explosion in the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, has prompted heated debate in the publishing industry, with writers concerned about the impact on their livelihoods.

In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC's Big Boss podcast, Daunt said while Waterstones uses AI for logistics they currently try to keep AI generated content out of the shops.

"As a bookseller, we sell what publishers publish, but I can say that instinctively that is something that we would recoil [from]," he said.

Daunt, who is heading into his 36th Christmas season in the book trade, said Waterstones' success had been built on handing more control to individual store managers to serve their own communities.

"Head office is there to make life easier," he said.

"Make sure the books that they order turn up on time, but do not tell [managers] where to put them."

Daunt also said he was a bit of an outlier in welcoming last week's Budget and he raised the prospect of a stock market flotation of the book chain.

'Disdain for AI'

A report published last month by the University of Cambridge found that more than half of published authors feared being replaced by artificial intelligence.

Two-thirds also said their work had been used without permission or payment to train the large language models which lie behind generative AI tools.

But some writers use AI themselves, especially for research, and AI tools are being used to edit novels, and even produce full-length works.

"Do I think that our booksellers are likely to put those kind of books front and centre? I would be surprised," Daunt says.

"Who's to know? [Technology firms] are spending trillions and trillions on AI and maybe it's going to produce the next War and Peace.

"And if people want to read that book, AI-generated or not, we will be selling it - as long as it doesn't pretend to [be] something that it isn't.

"We as booksellers would certainly naturally and instinctively disdain it," Daunt said.

Readers value a connection with the author "that does require a real person" he added. Any AI-generated book would always be clearly labelled as such.