Michelle ThompsonAmazon has announced the demand that authors notify it when content is machine-generated due to complaints about AI-produced works being sold under the identities of human writers.
On Wednesday, the business posted a message about the new guidelines on its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) forum. KDP enables authors to publish their own works independently and sell them on Amazon.com.
“When you publish a new book through KDP or change and republish an old book, we require you to notify us of any AI-generated content (text, photos, or translations). Cover, interior, and artwork photos are among the AI-generated images, the business stated in the revised criteria.
That is to say, authors who want to have their books sold through Amazon’s e-book program must now notify the company in advance that their works contain AI.
The new rules were praised by the Authors Guild and other like-minded organizations as a “welcome first step” in preventing the overabundance of computer-generated books on the website of the online store.
The worry is that a flood of computer-generated content could supplant real creators. Additionally, according to the Authors Guild, an organization representing more than 13,000 American writers, selling AI-generated novels would be unfair to customers who weren’t aware they were purchasing this kind of literature.
The Guild stated in a statement that it has “seen examples of AI-generated books ascending the best-seller lists on Amazon in recent months, and content farms appropriating the names, styles, and content of well-known authors such as Jane Friedman.”
Writers who bring unique life experiences and talent to their work and who are unable to reasonably compete with industrialized content farms should feel quite unjustly treated by this.
On her website, Friedman voiced her displeasure in August over the listing of multiple books as being written by her when, in her opinion, they were actually produced by AI tools. Shortly after, Amazon withdrew the books.
In July, the Guild assisted in organizing an open letter requesting AI companies refrain from using protected content without authorization. Several authors, including James Patterson, Suzanne Collins, and Margaret Atwood, supported the letter.
It’s a little early to celebrate, though, as Amazon won’t, at least initially, be publicly disclosing books that were totally or primarily authored or illustrated using AI. Additionally, Friedman concisely said that “there are no surefire detection methods for AI-generated material today.”
Finally, according to Amazon, when content is AI-assisted rather than entirely created by a machine, sellers are not obligated to reveal this information. This type of material, according to the business, is that which is written by authors themselves but which uses AI techniques to “edit, refine, error-check, or otherwise improve” the work.
It is also referred to as “AI-assisted” and not “AI-generated” if you used an AI-based tool to brainstorm and generate ideas but eventually developed the text or graphics yourself. It is not essential to notify us when such tools or procedures are used, according to Amazon.
