protected function get_author_id( $raw ) {

		$author_id = 0;

		// If raw is missing an ID and Email, use current user id.
		if ( ! isset( $raw['id'] ) && ! isset( $raw['email'] ) ) {
			$author_id = get_current_user_id();
		} else {

			// If id is set, check if the id matches a user in the DB.
			if ( isset( $raw['id'] ) && is_numeric( $raw['id'] ) ) {

				$user = get_user_by( 'ID', $raw['id'] );

				// User exists.
				if ( $user ) {

					// We have a raw email.
					if ( isset( $raw['email'] ) ) {

						// Raw email matches found user's email.
						if ( $user->user_email === $raw['email'] ) {
							$author_id = $user->ID;
						}
					} else {
						$author_id = $user->ID;
					}
				}
			}

			if ( ! $author_id ) {

				if ( isset( $raw['email'] ) ) {

					// See if we have a user that matches by email.
					$user = get_user_by( 'email', $raw['email'] );

					// User exists, use this user.
					if ( $user ) {
						$author_id = $user->ID;
					}
				}
			}

			// No author id, create a new one using the email.
			if ( ! $author_id && isset( $raw['email'] ) ) {

				$author_id = $this->create_user( $raw );

				if ( is_wp_error( $author_id ) ) {
					throw new Exception( $author_id->get_error_message(), self::ERROR_CREATE_USER );
				}
			}
		}

		/**
		 * Filter the author ID prior to it being used for the generation of new posts
		 *
		 * @since 4.7.0
		 *
		 * @param int   $author_id WP_User ID of the author.
		 * @param array $raw       Original raw author data.
		 */
		return apply_filters( 'llms_generator_get_author_id', $author_id, $raw );

	}