Authors Fight Rise of AI ‘Scam Books’ on Amazon

Authors fighting for space on Amazon now have a new threat to contend with: books generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

“Scam books on Amazon have been a problem for years,” Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, told NPR in a report Wednesday (March 13), adding that the problem has compounded in the past few months.

“Every new book seems to have some kind of companion book, some book that’s trying to steal sales.”

The report uses the example of Marie Arana, whose book “LatinoLand: A Portrait of America’s Largest and Least Understood Minority” came out last month. One day after its release, Arana visited Amazon to see how it was performing.

“Right below the cover of my book was another cover,” Arana says. “The cover said ‘America’s Largest and Least Understood Minority. A Summary of Latinoland.’”

The NPR report notes that Amazon did not comment directly on AI-generated books, but offered a statement outlining steps it had taken related to artificial intelligence (AI), including a requiring publishers to notify the company about whether their works are AI generated, and placing a cap on the number of titles that can be published in one day.

“We both proactively prevent books from being listed as well as remove books that do not adhere to those guidelines, including content that creates a poor customer experience,” the statement says. “When patterns of abuse warrant it, we also suspend publisher accounts to prevent repeated abuse.”

In a statement to PYMNTS, Amazon added that it also prevents books from being listed while also removing those that do not meet its guidelines, including content that yields a “poor customer experience.”

“Our process and guidelines will keep evolving as we see changes in AI-driven publishing to make sure we maintain the best possible experience for customers and authors alike,” a spokesperson said.

This issue is happening as authors are dealing with another AI-related headache: the use of their work as a way to train the technology. Many authors have sued tech companies over this practice, claiming copyright infringement, including a recent proposed class action suit against chipmaker Nvidia.

And as PYMNTS wrote Wednesday, experts say this issue highlights the urgent need for better protections and guidelines in the AI field.

“AI presents unique copyright concerns for businesses, primarily because it can produce content that closely resembles or ‘copies’ human-generated content, such as articles, publications, images and music,” Star Kashman, a cybersecurity and privacy lawyer, said in an interview with PYMNTS.

“The use of AI-generated creations raises complex questions about ownership and copyright, as these creations often use datasets that include copyrighted works of art and may infringe upon these copyrights.”

Kashman added that it’s crucial that businesses remain up to date on the latest AI and copyright laws, while also creating specific rules for using AI-generated content.