The advent of ChatGPT, a powerful language model developed by OpenAI, has enabled the creation of books written entirely by AI. These books are now flooding Amazon’s Kindle platform, raising questions about their quality and relevance.
Amazon, the online retail giant, is known for offering easy access to digital books. Recently, a new trend has been observed on Amazon’s e-reading platform, Kindle. It involves books written by ChatGPT. As a powerful language model, ChatGPT effectively enables content generation in a variety of domains.
Amazon markets books written by ChatGPT: a worrying trend?
According to a recent publication by Reuters, Amazon’s Kindle store would have more than 200 books attributed to ChatGPT as author or co-author. However, the number of books written by the AI surely exceeds this estimate. This is because Amazon does not explicitly compel authors to reveal their use of AI.
Since the release of OpenAI’s free tool last November, thewriting generated by ChatGPT is spreading on the market. This contributes to the creation of ethically dubious content. Vendors like Brett Schickler have already seen the benefits of AI by publishing stories written by ChatGPT.
Although Schickler claimed that his book had helped him earned less than $100 since its release in Januaryhe spent just a few hours creating it. However, this new trend is worrying some professionals in the literary world, such as Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guil. She is alarmed by the lack of transparency regarding the use of AI in the creation of these books. These could potentially impact professional authors.
Clarkesworld suspends article publication: Amazon and ChatGPT point the finger
According to PCMag, Clarkesworld Magazine has been forced to pause news submissions due to a large number of articles suspected of using AI without prior disclosure. Editor Neil Clarke confirms that he recognized these AI-generated stories thanks to “very obvious patterns”. Clarkesworld now bans stories written with ChatGPT and has banned over 500 users suspected of submitting such content.
Amazon, which allows authors to use ChatGPT to write books, may make matters worse. Concerns about the authenticity and quality of AI-assisted books require immediate action to guarantee the integrity and credibility of the publication process.
ChatGPT in book writing: risks of misinformation and plagiarism
The use of artificial intelligence in book writing raises concerns about misinformation and plagiarism. AI algorithms can produce erroneous information with great confidence, and may even use syntax identical to that of the source content.
The technology publication CNET had been using an in-house AI model to write business articles since last year. However, these articles were full of factual errors and their wording was almost identical to that of other websites. CNET quickly corrected its major errors and suspended use of the tool.
Despite this, one of its affiliated sites attempted to continue using the tool. The risk of a lack of transparency and credibility in AI-assisted book production is real. This is all the more the case with the emergence of platforms like Amazon, which enable authors touse AI to produce content quickly and cheaply.