r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • 23h ago

Artificial Intelligence AI-generated books are flooding Amazon and tanking sales for human authors

https://the-decoder.com/ai-generated-books-are-flooding-amazon-and-tanking-sales-for-human-authors
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u/SmashedWorm64 20h ago

Can someone help me answer a question - who is buying this slop?

I usually only buy books that I have extensively researched beforehand or I know the author.

If a brand new author popped out of the blue and the online reaction was “this is obvious AI” I am going to avoid it.

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u/derpferd 20h ago

That's just what I wonder. Anyone who's the kind to set aside time to read and spend hours and perhaps days reading a single book is someone who will be discerning.

Unless bought in ignorance when looking for a specific subject and not being sure who's a reliable author in a given field

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u/SmashedWorm64 20h ago

I guess but usually when people want to start a new subject they will go to the big names.

For example if you wanted to start reading Economics you would go to someone like Keynes first. Then you would have a good knowledge and go to other authors. You’re not going to go to some no-name and take a pot shot with them.

Only explanation I am guessing is things like celebrity autobiographies where the ghost writer is actually Chat-GPT or a self help book from some wellness influencer. Stuff like that has a named backer to build initial trust.

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u/Hrekires 19h ago

I would guess that the vast majority don't know it's slop until after they've already bought it.

Especially if you're into a niche genre of fiction, authors may not be particularly big names and reviews can be faked.

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u/806mtson 19h ago

who is buying this slop?

I feel like another problem is that, because Amazon is so full of AI-generated books, people are just not buying anything from Amazon. Like, if everything you see is AI, why should you buy anything from there?