Someone Used AI to Write an Unauthorized Biography of Me
I recently discovered an unauthorized biography written entirely by AI and published on Amazon under my name. The book contains fabricated details and nonsensical claims, highlighting a growing flood of low-quality AI-generated content polluting the platform. This experience reveals the alarming ease with which anyone can create misleading biographies of real people using artificial intelligence.
Kashmir Hill is a technology journalist whose 'sentences carry both weight and grace,' according to her unauthorized biography.
- nshotton
- aanet
> "Two business school professors, curious about A.I. books and whether anyone actually likes them, gathered data about 10 million books published on Amazon over the last five years. They found that the number of e-books published per month had tripled since the release of ChatGPT, to more than 300,000 at the end of last year, from around 100,000 in 2022. (Amazon said that its internal metrics did not show that level of growth, but would not share its figures.). Because romance sells, the professors thought it would be the genre most susceptible to A.I. intervention, but instead it was nonfiction — a term that should probably be used loosely in this context. While A.I.-assisted books received lower customer ratings than human-made ones, they deemed A.I.’s entry into the market a positive development, because the books were selling, if modestly. As economists, they told me, they’re less concerned with literary quality or customer satisfaction than revenue growth and market expansion."
One of the writers, Bill Johns, age 70, a retired cyber security consultant:
> "Mr. Johns now has 445 books for sale on Amazon. He orders a paperback copy of each one and keeps them on four rotating white bookshelves that are crowded awkwardly next to a couch in his living room. They all feature a photo of him in a serious dark suit — which is A.I. generated. “It was either that or put on a suit and take selfies,” he said."
- adyavanapalli
Honest question, but since when were biographies ever _authorized_? I would assume you would simply inform the subject out of politeness if at all.
- armchairhacker
I think the appropriate solution here is a generous, well-advertised refund policy.
People aren't allowed to (not even defame) write about others? Amazon doesn't allow certain books? No, but I imagine most people who actually buy this kind of book (if anyone does) are expecting higher quality.
And on the off chance they're satisfied, everyone wins. Even the author, since apparently the biography is very flattering of her.
- iamflimflam1
I stumbled across this recently - back in the 70s publishing houses were paying people to churn out book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nlbfZGFKuI
> Donald Rowland, a Suffolk author of nearly 200 books - written under more than 30 pseudonyms - has made a living out of his romantic fiction. Donald churns out more novels than anybody else in the county. He specialises in old-fashioned romance, his heroes and heroines are morally beyond reproach, there is no sex in his novels. The reason for his prolific output is simple - Donald is paid just fifty pounds per book.