New Delhi: Until recently, Brett Shikler never thought he could be a published author, although he did dream about it. But after learning about the ChatGPT artificial intelligence program, Shikler sensed an opportunity had struck. “Finally the idea of writing a book became possible,” said Schickler, a salesman in Rochester, New York. “I thought ‘I can do this.'” Using AI software that can generate blocks of text from simple prompts, Shikler created a 30-page illustrated children’s e-book in a matter of hours, releasing it in January Offered for sale by the self-publishing unit of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O).
In the version, Sammy the Squirrel, rendered crudely using AI, learns from his forest friends about saving money after being on a gold coin. He builds an acorn-shaped piggy bank, invests in an acorn trading business and hopes to one day buy an acorn. Sammy becomes the wealthiest squirrel in the forest, much to the envy of his friends, and according to the book “the forest begins to prosper”.
“The Wise Little Squirrel: A Tale of Saving and Investing,” available in the Amazon Kindle store for $2.99 – or $9.99 for the printed edition — netted Sickler less than $100, he said. While this may not sound like much, it is enough to inspire them to compose other books using the software.
“I could see people making full careers out of this,” said Shikler, who used prompts on ChatGPT such as “Write a story about a father teaching his son about financial literacy.”
Schickler is at the leading edge of a movement testing the promise and limits of ChatGPT, which began in November and sent shock waves through Silicon Valley for its uncanny ability to generate solid blocks of text instantly.
As of mid-February, there were more than 200 e-books in Amazon’s Kindle store that listed ChatGPT as an author or co-author, including “How to Write and Create Content Using ChatGPT,” “How to Do Homework.” Shakti” and the poetry collection “Echoes of”. World.” And the number is growing daily. There’s even a new subgenre on Amazon: books about using ChatGPT, written entirely by ChatGPT. But the nature of ChatGPT and the failure of many authors to disclose Because they have used it, it is almost impossible to get a complete account of how many e-books can be written by AI.
The emergence of the software has already spooked some of the biggest technology firms, prompting Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) to start new operations at Google and Bing, respectively , which includes AI. ChatGPT’s rapid consumer adoption has fueled frenzied activity in tech circles as investors pour money into AI-focused startups and give new purpose to technology firms amid the gloom of mass layoffs. Microsoft, for one, received flattering coverage this month after demonstrating an integration with ChatGPT on its otherwise moribund Bing search engine.
But there are already concerns about authenticity, as ChatGPT learns to type by scanning millions of pages of existing text. An experiment with AI by CNET resulted in several fixes and apparent plagiarism before the tech news site suspended access.
A threat to ‘real’ writers?
Now ChatGPT appears set to upend the stagnant book industry as novelists and self-help gurus looking to make a quick buck create bot-generated e-books and publish them through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing arm. Turning to software to help. Illustrated children’s books are a favorite for such first-time authors. Hundreds of tutorials have appeared on YouTube, TikTok and Reddit, showing how to make a book in just a few hours. Topics include get-rich-quick schemes, dieting advice, software coding tips, and recipes.
“This is something we really need to be concerned about, these books will flood the market and put a lot of writers out of work,” said Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the writers’ group The Authors Guild. Ghostwriting — by humans — is a long tradition, she said, but the ability to automate through AI could turn book writing from a craft into a commodity.
“There needs to be transparency from authors and platforms about how these books are made or you are going to end up with very low quality books,” she said.
An author who goes by Frank White showed in a YouTube video how in less than a day he created a 119-page novel titled “Galactic Pimp: Vol.” 1″ about alien factions in a distant galaxy at war over a human-staffed brothel. The book can be purchased at Amazon’s Kindle e-book store for just $1. In the video, White says that the means and time Anyone can make up to 300 such books a year, all using AI.
Many authors, such as White, feel no duty to disclose to the Kindle store that their Great American Novel was written in bulk by a computer, because Amazon’s policies do not require it.
Asked for comment by Reuters, Amazon did not say whether it plans to change or review its Kindle store policies around authors’ use of AI or other automated writing tools. “All books in the store must adhere to our content guidelines, which include complying with intellectual property rights and all other applicable laws,” Lindsey Hamilton, an Amazon spokeswoman, said via email.
A spokesman for ChatGPT developer OpenAI declined to comment.
From conception to publication in just a few hours
Amazon is by far the largest seller of both physical and e-books, accounting for more than half of sales in the United States and, by some estimates, more than 80% of the e-book market. Its Kindle Direct Publishing service has spawned a cottage industry of self-published novelists, carving out niches for enthusiasts of erotic content and self-help books.
Amazon founded Kindle Direct Publishing in 2007 to allow anyone to sell and market a book from their couch without the hassle or expense of finding literary agents or publishing houses. Normally, Amazon allows authors to publish quickly through the entity without any oversight, divulging what is generated.
This has attracted new AI-assisted authors like Kamil Banks, whose primary job is to sell fragrances online, who bet his wife that he could create a book from conception to publication in less than a day. Using ChatGPT, an AI image maker and prompts such as “Write a bedtime story about pink dolphins that teaches children to be honest,” the bank published a 27-page illustrated book in December. It took Bank about four hours to create “Bedtime Stories: Short and Sweet, for a Good Night’s Sleep,” available on Amazon, he said.
Consumer interest has so far been piqued: the bank said a total of a dozen copies have been sold. But readers rated it as worthy of five stars, praising its “wonderful and memorable characters”.
Banks has since published two more AI-generated books, including an adult coloring book, with more in the works. “It’s really really simple,” he said. “I was amazed at how quickly it moved from concept to publication.”
Not everyone is blown away by the software. Mark Dawson, who has reportedly sold millions of copies of books he’s written through Kindle Direct Publishing, was quick to call ChatGPT-assisted novels “dull” in an email to Reuters.
“Qualification plays a part in recommending books to other readers. If a book gets a bad review because the writing is dull, it’s going to sink to the bottom quickly.”