No. Literature & Latte's support article says "Scrivener itself contains no artificial intelligence (AI), nor does it participate in any data scraping activity." Apple Intelligence can still appear inside Scrivener on a Mac, iPhone or iPad, because Apple builds it into the operating system. Literature & Latte has not promised that Scrivener will never add AI.
Every statement on this page comes from Literature & Latte's own support article, blog, product pages and staff posts on its forum, read on 20 October 2026.
Does Scrivener have AI features?
No. Literature & Latte's overview and features pages describe the Binder, the Corkboard of index cards, the Outliner with synopses and metadata, Scrivenings, Collections, Snapshots with Compare, word Targets, Writing History, split view, composition mode and Compile. None of them is described as AI. A text search of the overview, features and FAQ pages finds no mention of AI, artificial intelligence or machine learning.
Literature & Latte's blog says it directly. A post by Kirk McElhearn, updated 15 September 2026, states: "Unlike most apps these days, Scrivener does not use AI in any way." The same post says "Scrivener is designed for creative writers to create, not to have a data center create for them."
Does Scrivener send your writing to an AI or train AI on it?
No. The support article, updated 29 January 2025, says Scrivener does not send your text from your machine to any other server in the background. The September 2026 blog post adds: "everything you write in your Scrivener projects stays on your device."
A forum staff member answered the training question in March 2025. Questions like "does Scrivener scrape my data for AI training" are common, and the answer is "no, we do not".
Syncing is the one exception you choose yourself. If you sync projects through Dropbox or iCloud, those services hold a copy under their own terms. The blog calls cloud syncing optional.
Why do AI prompts appear in Scrivener on a Mac?
They come from Apple, not from Scrivener. Apple's own guide says Writing Tools "are available in most places you write, including third-party apps and websites", where they rewrite, proofread and summarise selected text. The support article says Scrivener "merely acts as a host for these services on your Mac," in the same way it lets the system spell checker work on your text. The blog adds: "Even though Scrivener doesn't use any sort of AI, there's no way to exclude these features from the app."
That is why a Writing Tools icon or a Compose item can appear when you select text in Scrivener. The blog notes that Compose "lets you ask ChatGPT to create new texts." It is Apple's feature, governed by Apple's privacy policy, and Literature & Latte does not control it.
How do you turn off Apple Intelligence in Scrivener?
You turn it off in the operating system, not in Scrivener. Literature & Latte's blog gives these steps:
- macOS 15 or 26: Apple menu ▸ System Settings ▸ Apple Intelligence & Siri, then turn off Apple Intelligence.
- macOS 27: System Settings ▸ Screen Time ▸ Content & Privacy, turn the feature on, then click Siri, turn off Writing Assistance and click Done. The blog says macOS 27 no longer lets you turn Apple Intelligence off as a whole.
- iPhone or iPad: Settings ▸ Apple Intelligence & Siri, then turn off Apple Intelligence.
The blog warns that turning Apple Intelligence off globally also turns off features such as translation and web page summaries. Literature & Latte's statements cover Apple's tools only. They say nothing about Windows.
Has Literature & Latte promised Scrivener will never use AI?
No. Literature & Latte describes Scrivener as it is today and has published no commitment about future versions. Two kinds of statement are worth keeping apart:
- Has AI features: no. The support article, the blog and the product pages all say Scrivener contains no AI.
- Has a no-AI policy: no. No Literature & Latte page says Scrivener will never include AI.
The nearest thing to a policy is a forum post by Literature & Latte staff in November 2025: "Our position remains that the decision about whether to use AI tools at all, and which ones to adopt, is best left to individual users." The same post says the company sees "at least as many people saying they don't want AI anywhere near their Scrivener projects" as people asking for AI.
Earlier staff posts set the same tone without making a promise. In September 2024 a staff member wrote "We do not discuss future product plans." The same post expected "to support Apple Intelligence once it's released as part of Mac OS." Support for ChatGPT and similar tools "is likely to resemble our support for bibliography software, in that we are unlikely to tie ourselves to any particular tool."
Plottr, Novlr, Ellipsus and Penpoint have each written down a no-AI commitment. The difference between a missing feature and a written policy is set out in novel writing software without AI.
Is Scrivener a good choice if you want no AI?
Yes, on today's product. Scrivener has no AI of its own to switch off, keeps your projects on your own computer, and is sold as a one-time licence (the costs are in is Scrivener a one-time purchase). The limits are that Apple's system-wide tools still appear on a Mac, and Literature & Latte has made no promise about future versions.
A desktop alternative with no AI
Deckle is our app, so weigh this section accordingly.
Deckle is a writing, organising and formatting app for Windows, macOS and Linux, and it contains no generative AI. No AI library or AI service appears anywhere in its code, and nothing on its editing toolbar writes or rewrites text.
Deckle's editing toolbar
A project is a folder on your own disk, holding one .deckle database plus research/ and .deckle-assets/ folders, and nothing is stored on a Deckle server. It works offline after activation. Like Scrivener, Deckle has published no written no-AI policy. What it offers is a codebase with no AI in it today.
Deckle cannot block Apple's system-wide Writing Tools either, since they come from the operating system. It has no iPhone or iPad app, which Scrivener does.
Moving a project across is covered in moving from Scrivener to Deckle, and the wider field is in Scrivener alternatives.
To try it, click Take Deckle for a Spin on the screen Deckle opens to. There is no card, no account and no time limit. It opens a sample novel with every screen open to explore, and you can restyle it and export real EPUB, PDF and DOCX files. New writing is capped at about 500 words, and new documents and imports are blocked.
FAQ
Q: Does Scrivener use AI? A: No. Literature & Latte says Scrivener contains no artificial intelligence and does not take part in data scraping.
Q: Is Scrivener AI? A: No. Scrivener is a writing and organising app with no AI features. Its tools, such as the Binder, Corkboard and Compile, are all manual.
Q: Does Scrivener train AI on my writing? A: No. Literature & Latte says Scrivener does not send your text to any server, and its staff say it does not scrape your data for AI training.
Q: Why do I see AI options in Scrivener on my Mac? A: They are Apple Intelligence Writing Tools, built into macOS. Scrivener hosts them like the spell checker but does not control them.
Q: Can I turn off AI in Scrivener? A: Scrivener has no AI to turn off. Apple Intelligence is switched off in the Mac's System Settings, not in Scrivener.
Q: Will Scrivener add AI features? A: Literature & Latte does not discuss future plans. Its stated position is that whether to use AI tools is best left to individual users.
Q: Is Scrivener cloud based? A: No. Scrivener is a desktop app, and your projects stay on your device unless you choose to sync them through a service such as Dropbox.
Sources
All retrieved 20 October 2026.
- Literature & Latte support, Does Scrivener use AI? (updated 29 January 2025): "contains no artificial intelligence (AI), nor does it participate in any data scraping activity"; Apple Intelligence hosted like spell check
- Literature & Latte blog, Kirk McElhearn, Scrivener and AI: Why Do I See AI Prompts in My Scrivener Projects on Mac? (15 September 2026): "does not use AI in any way"; steps to turn off Apple Intelligence
- Apple, Use Writing Tools on Mac, Mac User Guide: rewrite, proofread and summarise; "available in most places you write, including third-party apps and websites"
- Literature & Latte, Scrivener overview and Scrivener features: feature list, no AI features described
- Literature & Latte, Scrivener FAQs: no AI mentioned
- Literature & Latte forum, Adding AI tools to Scrivener, staff post of 21 November 2025: "best left to individual users"
- Literature & Latte forum, Adding AI tools to Scrivener, staff post of 25 September 2024: "We do not discuss future product plans"; Apple Intelligence support
- Literature & Latte forum, ChatGPT or other LLM integration, staff post of 11 March 2025: "no, we do not" scrape data for AI training
Scrivener is a trademark of Literature & Latte. Apple Intelligence is a trademark of Apple, and ChatGPT of OpenAI. Deckle is not affiliated with or endorsed by any product named here.