AI-Generated Books Surge on Amazon, Raising Alarm for Self-Published Authors

Self-published fiction on Amazon is increasingly being produced with artificial-intelligence tools. The trend accelerated after large language models capable of generating sophisticated prose became widely available several years ago. By the mid-2020s, a notable share of the titles sold in genre categories such as romance and thriller contain chatbot-generated passages, according to recent research.

New York Times

Computer scientists led by Tuhin Chakrabarty, a professor of computer science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, used AI-detection software to scan thousands of self-published novels on Amazon. Their analysis identified a “substantial number” of books that included AI-generated text, particularly in genre fiction where rapid output is prized. The researchers reported that readers are often unable to distinguish these works from those written entirely by humans.

New York Times

Jess Michaels, a historical romance author who has published 117 novels since 1999 and earned ten USA Today best-seller titles, says the influx of AI-written books threatens discoverability for human writers. She argues that the practice “essentially erases actual authors” and describes the situation as “soul-crushing.” Industry observers note that the sheer volume of AI-generated titles makes it harder for readers to find original voices, potentially reshaping the economics of self-publishing.

New York Times

• “The glut of the A.I. work makes discoverability very difficult,” — Jess Michaels

New York Times