First, why does it matter?
With the proliferation of AI-generated books, it has become easier for people to identify content written by humans versus robots. Many people have reported that AI-generated content reads boring and senseless. It lacks human touch!
And, for the publishing industry, AI-generated books are the real threat at present. You must have heard about a Canadian artist, Tim Boucher, who published nearly 100 books co-created by AI. According to the author, he produced every book in just 6-8 hours. So, ChatGPT takes the credit for most of the happenings in the publishing industry.
But unfortunately, AI is emerging as a threat to genuine Kindle Unlimited books. It’s because authors are spamming Kindle books with ChatGPT. The worst thing is that AI-generated e-books are even spamming the Kindle Bestsellers list.
As reported by a Vice article published in June 2023, Caitlyn Lynch, an indie author, Tweeted that: “The AI bots have broken Amazon. Take a look at the Best Sellers in Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Romance e-book’s top 100 chart. I can see 19 actual legit books. The rest are AI nonsense, clearly there to click farm.”
Although Amazon has established new AI guidelines for its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform, AI books are still there.
How do you spot AI-written e-books on Kindle Unlimited?
Here we go:
– CAPITALIZED Titles (But not always)
Most of the AI-produced books come with titles written in CAPITAL LETTERS. Please note that it’s not the title on the cover art but the title on the product page description on Amazon.
– Named Asian authors
If you find a book published by someone named Phuong Tuong, Lam Dich Quan, or something similar, you need to double-check the book’s content to determine whether it’s been written by AI.
– Book covers made from templates.
Browse Kindle bestsellers list or search results. You will find books with similar cover artwork and different titles. This could be a sign that these books are written or co-written by AI.
– Same cover art with different authors.
If there are books with the same cover art template, each published by different Asian authors, chances are these are AI-generated books.
– Under 100 pages
AI-generated books tend to be shorter in page length. But it’s not because of the ease of content generation. When it comes to the digital subscription, a shorter length means meeting the conditions of the read title. The shorter the book, the more likely the readers are to swipe past the required length.
– Published in 2023
Most of the AI-generated books do not have the “Product detail” section. Even if they do, they might miss the “Publisher” field in this section.
If all or any of the conditions are met, and the book you are considering was published in 2023 or later, you can be sure it was written by AI.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.