by - A lively new author has become a familiar presence in Amazon’s bookstore – OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
- The chatbot is credited as the author or co-author of more than 200 paperbacks and e-books.
- One expert told Reuters he was concerned the trend could flood the market with poor-quality books.
ChatGPT seems to have become a prolific writer.
At the time of writing, the lively chatbot developed by OpenAI has been credited as the author or co-author of more than 200 paperbacks and e-books on Amazon’s bookstore. The number was first reported by Reuters.
The actual number of books authored by the chatbot could be much higher because Amazon’s policies do not require users to disclose their use of AI, according to Reuters.
Several books are guides on how to use the chatbot. A paperback that lists the bot as a co-author, “ChatGPT on ChatGPT: The AI Explains Itself,” was described as “entirely written” by the AI bot. The Kindle version of the book is free, but a paperback is $11.99.
Another popular genre is children’s books written by ChatGPT and illustrated by other AI programs. Ammaar Reshi, a product design manager at a San Francisco-based financial technology company, told Insider he used ChatGPT and Midjourney to write and illustrate a children’s book in 72 hours.
Reshi released Alice and Sparkle in paperback for free on the Amazon bookstore through a service called KDP. The book went viral on Twitter after it was met with backlash from creatives. Some have been upset with how AI image generators use their work, while others have had issues with the quality of the writing.
Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guild authors’ group, told Reuters: “This is something we really have to worry about, these books are going to flood the market and a lot of authors will be out of work.”
Rasenberger told the news outlet she’s concerned that the ability to automate creative writing with AI could risk commodifying the process and producing many low-quality books.
“The authors and platforms need transparency about how these books are made,” she said.
Amazon and OpenAI officials did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, which was made outside of normal business hours.
