Author Jane Friedman has raised concerns about the sale of books on Amazon under her name that appear to have been authored by artificial intelligence (AI).
According to CNN, Friedman, known for her work in the writing and publishing industry, discovered the fake titles when a reader purchased one. Although the titles aligned with her usual subjects, the text seemed to be generated by AI attempting to mimic her style.
Upon closer inspection, Friedman noted that the books’ opening pages and biographical details appeared to have been mostly, if not entirely, generated by AI.
According to the author, her extensive online content, accumulated through years of blogging, may have provided sufficient material for an AI to replicate her writing style.
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E-readers are pictured on the opening day of the Frankfurt book fair 2019 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on October 16, 2019. – The Frankfurt book fair is the world’s largest publishing event, with this year Norway as honorary guest of the fair running from October 16 to 20, 2019.
The AI Fears of Authors
The proliferation of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, has raised concerns among writers and authors who fear that AI-generated content might replace their work. These concerns extend to the use of their work for training AI models capable of imitation.
During her interview with CNN, Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, a nonprofit authors’ advocacy group, highlighted the issue of generative AI replacing writers and incorporating their work into AI models.
She expressed that writers are understandably distressed by this trend. In response to these concerns, US lawmakers recently engaged with representatives from creative industries, including the Authors Guild, to discuss the implications of AI.
During a Senate subcommittee hearing, Rasenberger called for legislation to safeguard writers from AI-generated content, including requirements for transparency from AI companies regarding their model training methods.
Over 10,000 authors, including prominent figures like James Patterson, Roxane Gay, and Margaret Atwood, endorsed an open letter urging AI industry leaders like Microsoft and OpenAI to seek consent from authors before utilizing their work to train AI models and to ensure fair compensation.
To address the issue, Friedman posted a thread on X (formerly Twitter) and published a blog post outlining her experience. Her actions led to fellow authors sharing similar encounters with AI-generated content bearing their names.
“We desperately need guardrails on this landslide of misattribution and misinformation. Amazon and Goodreads, I beg you to create a way to verify authorship, or for authors to easily block fraudulent books credited to them. Do it now, do it quickly,” Friedman wrote in her blog post.
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Amazon Responds to the Issue
Amazon, the platform where the fake books were listed, subsequently removed the counterfeit titles associated with Friedman’s name.
The company affirmed its content guidelines aimed at preventing such imitations and emphasized its commitment to a secure shopping environment for customers and authors.
Amazon has assured Friedman that it is investigating the handling of her claims and intends to enhance its processes in response.
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