4 ms·

Speaking of ChatGPT-authored books: The example that someone posted on HN last month ("Tom Lesley has published 40 books in 2023, all with 100% positive reviews

Speaking of ChatGPT-authored books: The example that someone posted on HN last month ("Tom Lesley has published 40 books in 2023, all with 100% positive reviews" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35687868 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35687868) is still up on Amazon despite the widespread publicity, fake reviews and all. Note that AI-generated books have been on the horizon for a long time, well before ChatGPT appeared. Ingram, one of the biggest print-on-demand services in the United States, specifically banned "Books created using artificial intelligence or automated processes" in early 2020 (https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/manufacturing/article/82526-lightning-source-to-introduce-content-integrity-guidelines.html https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/m...). Amazon clearly doesn't have a handle on the problem, and its book catalogue and Kindle Unlimited will increasingly be flooded with junk.

throwuwu 3y ago
They allow self publishing so they are already flooded with junk. I don’t see the problem though since it’s not like you have to actually dig through a pile of books when you have a search engine and can get recommendations from other sources
- hammyhavoc 3y ago
  It's the scale of the issue and diminishing the signal-to-noise ratio by many magnitudes, harming discoverability and sales of legitimate, high quality, original work.
  - throwuwu 3y ago
    I don’t think I’ve ever “discovered” a new book or author solely through an online book seller. It’s always the result of a recommendation or a web search of reviews or a bibliographic mention. Do people actually just browse through the firehose of Amazon best seller crap to find stuff?
    - hammyhavoc 3y ago
      A lot of people do, primarily because you'll otherwise miss so much, and relying on recommendations leads to an echo chamber ultimately.
falcolas 3y ago
> Kindle Unlimited will increasingly be flooded with junk And our compensation for this is increased KU subscription prices.

throwuwu 3y ago

They allow self publishing so they are already flooded with junk. I don’t see the problem though since it’s not like you have to actually dig through a pile of books when you have a search engine and can get recommendations from other sources

hammyhavoc 3y ago
It's the scale of the issue and diminishing the signal-to-noise ratio by many magnitudes, harming discoverability and sales of legitimate, high quality, original work.
- throwuwu 3y ago
  I don’t think I’ve ever “discovered” a new book or author solely through an online book seller. It’s always the result of a recommendation or a web search of reviews or a bibliographic mention. Do people actually just browse through the firehose of Amazon best seller crap to find stuff?
  - hammyhavoc 3y ago
    A lot of people do, primarily because you'll otherwise miss so much, and relying on recommendations leads to an echo chamber ultimately.

falcolas 3y ago

> Kindle Unlimited will increasingly be flooded with junk And our compensation for this is increased KU subscription prices.