After months of complaints from the Authors Guild and other groups, Amazon.com has started requiring writers who want to sell books through its e-book program to tell the company in advance that their work includes artificial intelligence material.

The Authors Guild praised the new regulations, which were posted Wednesday, as a “welcome first step” toward deterring the proliferation of computer-generated books on the online retailer’s site. Many writers feared computer-generated books could crowd out traditional works and would be unfair to consumers who didn’t know they were buying AI content.

In a statement posted on its website, the Guild expressed gratitude toward “the Amazon team for taking our concerns into account and enacting this important step toward ensuring transparency and accountability for AI-generated content.”

  • dethb0y@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Considering what a total wasteland amazon’s self published section is, i don’t know that it could be much worse.

    Of course any author with an IQ over 70 would have the good sense to never disclose they were using AI.

    • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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      1 year ago

      What’s worse is AI generated books on mushrooms, etc, which can be literally deadly (and yes such books has already been published!)

      • dethb0y@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Darwin in action. Anyone who’d use a guidebook to figure out what mushrooms to eat is gonna have a bad time regardless, it’s not really something you can sum up in a book in a safe way.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      My mother was originally going to self-publish her first novel on Amazon, but she realized what a scam it was. I’m glad she found a real publisher. She’s on her sixth book now. They aren’t bestsellers or anything, but people actually buy and read them. eBooks and physical copies.