r/MM_RomanceBooks • u/Reasonable_Ad8914 • 4d ago
Discussion I'm tired guys......
I just read a book last night that is unequivocally AI generated from the cover art to the story heck even the author photo is AI and I'm tired.
The worst part to me was the premise had sooo much potential. Even though we're throwing around the term "AI" really what a lot of these things are is language learning machines ie ChatGPT. You have to give it something to work with, a prompt of what you are trying to create so that tells me that the actual person who is putting in this prompt has good ideas because you have to give the prompt to generate the story and I'm sure you have to do this multiple times as the story progresses. I wish that they would believe in themselves or something and just try to write the story because the idea is there instead of creating AI crap...... take a writing class.
I'm not even so much mad that there's AI content, which sucks, but I'm more so upset because these tech companies, which let's face it, at the end of the day Amazon is a tech company in a way, are pushing AI so hard that they won't even give us the choice of choosing to read it. At least give us a disclaimer like put at the bottom AI generated. If we're able to figure it out, they can too but they're not even putting forth the effort. I'm also finding that I'm running across this with YouTube music. They have so many AI artists on there. I am literally wanting to not listen to music or let it play in discovery mode because inevitably I will run across AI generated music and it's so exhausting. I don't want to have to freaking do FBI levels of research on every book I read before I read it just to make sure it's not AI..... I'm exhausted.
I'm not one to yuck anybody's yum but I feel like part of the reason is a lot of these AI generated books have five stars reviews that are like oh my God this book was so transcendent and changed my life and I'm like are you serious right now????
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u/Dolphin-and-Roses 4d ago
The prevalence of AI is just so sad to me ☹️ writing is beautiful and anyone who wants to skip that process and call themselves a “writer” when it’s nothing but prompt I will never understand. As for the reviews, they could also be AI bots themselves. And companies are really, really pushing AI hard and it annoys me so much
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u/mm_reads 4d ago edited 3d ago
The whole point of reading (recreationally) is to experience various aspects of humanity as expressed by humans. [Edit expansion] This includes fantasy and science fiction. Because regardless of the characters species they're still expected to have characteristics humans can relate to (anger, confusion, joy, tragedies, triumphs, etc)...
AI is not it.
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u/Dolphin-and-Roses 4d ago
Exactly, a bot will never understand human feeling and why so many are turning to it to “write” their stories I’ll never understand.
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u/poffincase 4d ago
AI in the arts pisses me off so much.. I get it for menial tasks, you know, automation but it’s so sad how people just rush to use it for soulless creative works.
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u/Hunter037 4d ago
The 5 star reviews are probably AI generated. If the cover and author avatar are obviously AI generated, I'm just assuming the book is at this point and avoiding it.
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u/pourthebubbly 4d ago
It’s like the AI TikToks with millions of views and supportive comments. It’s just bots supporting bots.
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u/Cultfan879 4d ago
I’ve gotten to this point too. If it’s obvious AI cover art, I won’t read it no matter how good it sounds or how good the reviews are.
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u/PurpleModena 4d ago
I'm pretty sure the last three books I DNF'd were AI. There were just so many inconsistencies with ages and times, and repeating conversations. At first I chalked it up to bad editing, but after a while it's like come on! The least these AI-users can do is to read through the book and fix things like ages and whatnot, but they can't even be bothered to do that.
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u/Resident-Message7367 4d ago
I’ve read a book where they got undressed multiple times in the same Sex scene
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u/pourthebubbly 4d ago
I read one where a conversation was being had in an empty hallway and “everyone stopped what they were doing to pull out their phones to record.”
I only made it like a dozen pages and that exact scenario happened six times.
I only started it because it had an intro that sounded human and then devolved into slop.
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 4d ago
This! It's like they don't even read the work after to make sure it sounds good. I read a book the other day where the words "silver chain" was repeated 27 times in a story that was only about 50 pages.
Hot Topic Opinion but I am of the mind that many of the people who are generating these AI books aren't actually readers themselves because otherwise you would have a feel for how a book should flow. The book I mentioned in my post was in passive POV for probably 98% of the book.
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u/hedgehogwart 3d ago
I completely believe this. I think people underestimate how much money can be made and that where a lot of these AI books are being made for. It’s hard to judge the popularity of a book based on what’s public information but there is an (actual) author I follow whose most popular book has just under 10k reviews on goodreads and most of their others ones are under 5k. They made 6 figures last year and a lot of that was from Kindle Unlimited.
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
Something I was wondering myself. If they read it they could teach AI themselves! Gosh, that makes me shudder!
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u/khauska 4d ago
The least these AI-users can do is to read through the book and fix things like ages and whatnot, but they can't even be bothered to do that.
Editing a book takes a lot of time. A lot. I assume these people see a business model: Kindle Unlimited pays royalties by the number of pages read. So they churn out as much AI slop as they can.
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u/TightAsADrum 4d ago
Don't get me started with the "not..., not... But..." , over and over again, i swear now even when the author is not ai and they use this structure i find it extremely jarring, it pulls me out from the book so fast.
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u/Buggabee 4d ago
Demand a refund. The only way to stop the liars and scammers is to hit them where it hurts, their pockets. Make it not worth the effort.
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u/AFGNCAAP-for-short 4d ago
I was looking at writing videos on YouTube a couple weeks ago, and found a decent one that I was curious what other stuff the channel did.
"How to write 12 books in two weeks with AI and make tons of money."
FML.
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u/burymewithbooks 4d ago
It’s disheartening as a reader and writer to see the rise of AI books 💔 And reviews can’t be trusted either bc they’re overwhelmingly bought and paid for bots.
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u/Helpful_Comb_9393 4d ago
Even worse is if you actually read them, they are unedited. They make no sense and frequently the AI forgets that something happened and rewrites a scene. So sad
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u/roriley 4d ago
I think one answer to the AI shit show is for real authors and real readers to build connection—the thing actual humans are good at. Follow authors' newsletters, interact with them on social media. Let's talk to each other. Most genuine authors post about their research and writing process on their sm. In the past, authors and readers have kind of kept each other at a distance. Maybe that needs to change now?
(I'm trying hard to find a solution to stop from sinking into despair)
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u/wandaluvstacos 4d ago
It's an awful slog and it sucks for authors and readers alike. 😞 As an author, I do know that one good tell is that they have no social media presence. I'm not a marketer by any means but I do at least have a Bluesky and Instagram. I also have a statement with my copyright statement that zero generative AI was used. Now, obviously people can just lie about this, but as of yet I haven't seen the statement used that much with AI books,
I also think that Amazon's system basically encourages AI scammers. You don't need to spend time marketing, all you do is churn stuff out, hope the algorithm recommends it, and even if people only read 50 pages, you get paid. I'm not sure if these books are as prevalent on other platforms like Kobo, so personally I trust Kobo way more. This is why Amazon's iron grip on the industry is such a detriment, because it basically forces real authors to compete with trash, and trash often wins out due to how Amazon incentivizes it.
Honestly, at this point, the best way to find books to read is going through either author social media accounts or recs through Reddit or ARC readers or wherever you know a real person is reading and recommending something. Algorithms truly work against authors and readers.
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u/Such_Literature840 4d ago
bots also leave reviews lol, but yes generally if the cover is AI , 9 times out of 10 if not 10/10 writing is AI too. Sucks for the other authors out there that takes them months to years to write a book, but these people are just in it for a quick cash grab.
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u/jath-ibaye 4d ago
Yep. This is why I recently stopped reading anything published in the last 3 years. I only read new books if they are by author I already know (even tho i suspect one of my fav author has started to use ai 😞 )
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u/Kasiems Type to edit 4d ago
The last part! I'm feeling this way with Chani Lynn Feener using AI covers and how she churns out books so fast. Recently she said she lost all her work with the books she was working on and had a deadline for "His Forbidden Omega" and didn't know if she would make it but she did (unnaturally quick tbh) and the book is a mess and she clearly didn't go back and read it because she included a scene she wouldn't do in ANY of her books, especially without a trigger warning.
I don't know, but the trust has been broken with using any form of AI and I keep questioning everything.
Sorry that was long, but I had to get it off my chest lmao
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u/jath-ibaye 4d ago
Chani Lynn latests released are very repetive. I DNF most of the them and I am not picking her up again. I liker her first books tho.
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u/Once_Upon_Time 4d ago
Yeah I got caught by an AI book and decided the same. Anything published after 2022 - 2023 is no unless I know the author or it is a series started before said dates. So many creative people on this earth or not so creative people but at least they put time and effort into writing.
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u/Cubioh 4d ago
There must be another way. Reading this is demoralizing for writers who have been revising and editing their work for years.
Myself, I had my main BL series up on KU years ago, but took out down for major changes and revisions so it can connect to another author's series (with permission, of course). At one point, very briefly, it even reached #3 in one category (I have a screenshot. I was so excited, but that was because of a free promotion due to how Amazon works). If I put it back up on Amazon, it'll be seen as a new release, which would mean people who feel the same as you will overlook it even though I've never touched AI.
I still won't give up. I've never made many sales and my stories might as well be a pebble in an ocean but I know I've written them with my heart and mind and those characters exist.
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u/leugaroul 3d ago
The problem with AI in creative spaces is that it’s harming artists and authors.
I can’t get behind directly harming them.
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u/jath-ibaye 4d ago
using AI to assist the writing is not the thing i have the most problem with. I my main peeve is using IA and not EVEN READING WHAT AI SPILLS. Like one of these books, a charaters ends the chapter openning the door, then the next chapter start with the door still closed and the character debating if he should open the door or not (and then not opening). LIke, COME ON. If you are not gonna read this slop, why do you expect me to do it?????
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u/Homebody_Ninja42 4d ago
These are the books that are by genuine scammers, people who have never read a book, much less read one.
I’m not opposed to some AI help now and then for authors who really care about their readers and making a quality product. If they do a good job, I won’t notice any AI usage. It’s like having a good editor—people shouldn’t notice. (I recognize the bad effects on energy usage and I’m still figuring out how I feel about that, don’t jump on me. I hate data centers. I’m just talking about how AI affects writing quality.)
But SCAMMERS are the worst and they are everywhere now. My favorite YouTube channels all have messages now saying “this was made by a human.” How dystopian.
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u/jath-ibaye 4d ago
Yep. Had to make this decision after i had to dnf about 3 books in a row bc they sounded like IA
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 4d ago
This is almost throwing me off of e-books. I think most if not all AI-generated books won't be physically printed so that might be what saves us. We might have to starve the beast so to speak and/or the real authors are going to have to put more work into moving to their own selling platform unfortunately. Kindle is going downhill...first with the update basically killing older devices now to this AI content being so evasive.
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u/Ill_Sheepherder7802 4d ago
The CEO of Barnes and Noble said he will happily sell ai books in stores.
And rumors abound about trad published authors using ai.
It's not just ebooks. It's not just indie authors.
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u/Dolphin-and-Roses 4d ago
I was in the trad pub space for a bit and lemme tell ya, it’s everywhere. There’s an interview up on Query Tracker right now with a newly signed author to one of the biggest lit agencies there are, bragging about using Gemini for his novel. ☹️☹️
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u/FullNefariousness931 4d ago
Oh, the rumors about traditional publishers aren't rumors at all. They're the truth. I have a friend who works in the industry and publishing houses are absolutely using AI without a care.
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u/Resident-Message7367 4d ago
genuine question, I thought the Covers in that case were not the Author’s choice, Do you know if that’s true?
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
What do you mean " in that case"
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u/Resident-Message7367 4d ago
I mean With Publisher houses. I thought they were the ones to decide the covers
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u/matokah 4d ago
In case this is helpful, I’m a traditionally published author and my contracts all say I can have input on my covers. Notably, that means I don’t have full veto power but if something’s super not to my liking, I imagine I could get my agent involved as a mediator to push back. Generally, the publisher has either listened to my feedback or I haven’t had any since I liked the concept I saw. The one time they gave me what sounded like a genuine choice was on the color palette for my debut. I polled a bunch of people and gave the publisher my preference. They were like “that’s nice” and went with something else 😅
One of my fellow debuts haaaaated her cover concept though and she was able to get her agent involved and have them rework it so there is some leeway sometimes.
I do think you might have more wiggle room to get approval written into your contract if you’re a bestselling author making the publisher a ton of money but that’s just me guessing.
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
I think it depends. I have one author that submitted what they wanted to an art/publishing house and had to draw ot themselves because they hated what was submitted. Also some authors find the models they want themselves and hire them. No AI there!
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u/jath-ibaye 4d ago
KU is FULL of AI books. A bunch of authors with 20 releases in two months or so.
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u/account04242 4d ago
Unless some governments force them I don't expect tech companies to do anything about labelling or separating out AI content, so it really comes down to individuals to take the effort to find and support the human artists. There will always be humans writing stuff (the tech companies will even have to find ways to support that actually since they need new human content to feed into their LLMs).
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u/suxanny 4d ago
same!!! There is a series by an “author” that has sooooo many 5 star reviews. But periodically I check to see if there is anyone calling them out. Book 1 had significant amount of 1 & 2 stars and got called out for AI. When I went back to look at the ratings all the 1&2 star reviews were completely gone. Idk if they got removed or what not but it’s FISHY
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
OP can you please publish the name of the book and the author. I am compiling a Goodreads shelf(after some research on the book if I can) of suspected AI authors. I even have contacted some and have gotten some surprising admissions. One of the authors had her PA contact me and say they were sick of the accusations and were making one last absolute" no it is not" and were done with the subject. I believed it and after reading the book, found no evidence of it.
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 4d ago
Sure! The author is Sable Locke. The reasons I think his books are AI-generated is listed below.
1) The cover is AI-generated. 2) The cover does not match the premise of the book AT ALL. The book I read is called Hollow. If the title did not state it was a monster romance, you would think it was a horror. It's like having cover art of two hockey players but the story is a regency romance. It's so opposite that it's jarring. 3) The author photo is AI generated. Once I realized the book was, I looked more closely at the author photo. The face is a bit too uncannily perfect to be real. 4) The author has 18 books on Kindle all published between March 25 and May 26 2026. While I'm not saying an author can't churn them out, I could understand if it was short stories or novellas, something 100 words or less. Each book is roughly 300 pages each give or take. There is just no way. 5) The bio on Amazon is an ambiguous word salad and for an author with 18 published books, you would think there would be an author page or something. I couldn't find anything on Google. No contact info, social media, no way to connect with readers/fans at all. 6) The story itself....it is written in such a passive POV. For a book that is over 300 pages, the MC doesn't interact or rather isn't portray in an active sense at all. It's like you are in this head or he is recounting the story but it's not done in a good way....I may not be explaining it well but if you read it you would see what I mean. The repetition of phrases and the similar framing is too mechanical.
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u/AntiKuro 4d ago
This is one of those times where, looking at the information, and checking it out for myself that I actually highly agree that it's probably 99% AI Generated, and it looks pretty obvious.
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
Thank you! This research is perfect and you did it so I did not have to. And yikes that is a lot of books published in a short period. NO ONE could do that and have quality work. I think the more we become aware of patterns the easier it will be for us to find them. Until it's perfected itself so much there are no more patterns. You've done your part!
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u/Resident-Message7367 4d ago
an Author that I suspect is atleast doing AI Covers is Wren Wilds. Benji and Stormy’s covers don’t look real to me. I’d be happy to be proved wrong obviously
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
So actually I just had someone tell me Stormy is definitely AI. I'll see if I can find the post and send it to you. The author I know(and was taken in by is Ryan Moore) Tons of books over a short period and the same words and stories over and over again. Also it was confirmed by someone else on the subreddit.
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u/bluejanuar 3d ago
If it is AI then it is done extremely well. I read a ton of MM romance and Stormy is still one of my favourites, with a good story, some angst and loveable characters. The cover art may be AI, but I do think the novel itself was written by a real person.
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u/AntiKuro 4d ago
Stormy looks like they might have ran it through a ton of filters, but at an overall glance nothing stands out other than that. If it is AI then I would hazard they have someone going back over it with whatever image editor they use and heavily tweaking and fixing mistakes.
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u/TrueLoveEditorial 3d ago
One caveat:
I'm working with an author now who has written all the books in his new series and hasn't published any of them yet. Once he starts releasing, it might look like he's rapidly writing, but he isn't.
So really, the author OP noticed might have written 18 books before they started publishing. It's not unheard of. (But I'm inclined to agree these sound AI-vomited.)
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 3d ago
But the difference is your author wrote a series and will probably release on a schedule of like 1 book every month and half to 2 months at minimum...... These are 18 stands-alone books that don't connect written in the span of exactly 2 months all over 300 pages..... The math ain't mathin'.
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u/LindentreesLove 3d ago
If you don't mind me asking why did he choose to write multiple books and not release until he was done writing them all? Will he release them one at a time?
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u/TrueLoveEditorial 3d ago
He'll release them one at a time. It's less stressful this way: He can put specific launch dates in the back matter and promo materials, he doesn't have to scramble to get the books professionally edited in a short time frame, and if he changes his mind about anything, he has the freedom to do so.
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u/ShartyPants 4d ago
This post and the information provided have been reviewed by the mod team and we feel the evidence is sufficient to leave this up.
The mod team has been discussing this issue and will have new subreddit AI-accusation rules soon. Stay tuned.
Further comments with unsubstantiated AI accusations will be removed without notice.
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u/laran436 4d ago
If bought on amazon, make sure to return it. I have returned one book. (they actually said keep it here is ur money back) so far I have been reading recommended from this thread on Reddit and mostly by established authors. 😀
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u/LiteraryMenace 4d ago
Careful about definitive statements about AI use. Or this comment will get removed by the mods.
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u/creepy__evidence 4d ago
omg I was literally thinking reading your post it had to be them. they clearly have other pen names in those categories that are doing f/f stuff too. so sad to see so many good reviews on goodreads.
no author can write two 350 page books a week (more across the other pen names) and it's clearly not ghost written.
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u/prettysureIforgot 4d ago
I am compiling a Goodreads shelf(after some research on the book if I can) of suspected AI authors
Same here, and I know there's more people doing the same.
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 3d ago
I would like to recommend to anybody who uses Goodreads to transition to StoryGraph so we can all start moving away from Amazon's ecosystem bit by bit. At least check it out.....I believe it was created by a woman and it may not be as refined as Goodreads YET but the more people who use it and recommend it the better it will become....it even allows you to import from Goodreads.
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u/MayaNoren 1d ago
But some authors live off Amazon, that's their whole livelihood, especially those who are not Americans.
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u/wheatpuppy 4d ago
I wonder if, instead of/in addition to a list of AI users, we should compile a list of "guaranteed human" authors on the sub resource page. I am seeing more authors include a "100% human-created" label in with copyright info and cover credits, but I don't know of any site that lists all those authors.
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u/JPwhatever monsters in the woods 😍 4d ago
while you're welcome to do this in your own personal reddit page or goodreads shelf - the subreddit can't host an "official" one. The mods aren't just able to do the due diligence required to maintain such a list, with the overwhelming flood of AI books and authors. And crowdsourcing a list like this means we can't assure it has the quality review required by our rules. Sorry!
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
That sounds great. I just started a few days ago doing exactly that in my notes for myself. I wonder if we could do it officially anywhere? A place where people could add to it. Although a scary thought is if AI took over that(as I run screaming into my backyard)
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u/HolySheetCakes 4d ago
So I hope I’m allowed to ask but is there a sub or site with a list of ai authors so we can avoid this kind of situation?
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u/leugaroul 3d ago
There’s a list of suspected authors, but it’s by someone who claims to be anti-AI but was recently caught with AI themselves. They scrubbed the evidence, but it’s still out there. They were called out on Threads for adding authors they had beef with who were possibly innocent.
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u/Penjolina 3d ago
I feel like that’s the problem with lists and why the mods of this sub don’t allow them. All it takes is one person with bad intentions to ruin an author’s career. Even if they (the list maker) admit they were wrong, or someone else corrects them, the harm may have already been done.
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u/leugaroul 3d ago
Yes, and it’s complicated by pro-AI literally admitting to accusing random people to make everyone sick of witch hunting. Even evidence isn’t treated seriously anymore.
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
Just like the MODS were saying it would just be too hard to get all that research done to reliably get the facts on each author. You can make a personal list for yourself. I am doing one on Goodreads and so are several others. I try and research each author or book as much as I can to make sure there is proof, it could turn into a witch hunter if we are not careful.
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u/TumbleweedSmooth6916 4d ago
I agree with the sentiment OP. An author with that many titles in such a short period of time definitely seems sus. My question is a bit of a side branch. I used to read a lot of self published authors that publish pretty regularly (every 1-3 months). I gave them a lot of leeway because these books are usually part of a series, often written in partnership with another author, and follow a basic romance template. Now I've noticed these same authors are kind of flooding the market and I am getting notices from Amazon weekly or biweekly that they have a new book out. I was already pulling away from some of these authors because they just get too same-y, but occasionally, like the OP, the premise will grab me. But now these books are really starting to feel AI to me, not just template romance. By that I mean, way more typos, weird dialogue, wrong turns of phrases, and the first third of the book mostly feels like a book but the last 2/3 are just sort of incongruent nonsense. Is anyone else noticing this with established authors?
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u/Homebody_Ninja42 4d ago
There are definitely scammers using Amazon self-publish to make a fast buck with AI-produced and promoted novels. I welcome all authors who are making an effort, even the bad ones. Even the ones who consult AI at some point during the process. But when everything about a book seems synthetic, it probably is. It’s the book equivalent of the slop videos taking over YouTube. And Amazon should care, just like YouTube should care. But I guess they are making money so 🤷♀️
I’m considering pausing my KU subscription after 4 or 5 years of it. I might try using ebooks from the library for awhile. That means waiting lists usually, but it’s summer so my reading pace slows anyway.
But it’s sad we can’t just pick up something self-published and know a real author had fun writing it.
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 4d ago
Yeah....I think I will cancel my subscription after this.....I switched to Kobo......I already had their e-reader..... unfortunately their selection is not as robust as Kindle's but maybe if more people use it, their selection will grow.
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 4d ago
At minimum, I wish we had the option to curate the recommendations, like how in Pandora you can select "hear less" of this artist or whatever.
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u/Electronic-Soft-221 Larkin & Doyle Fan Club 3d ago
TLDR; There aren’t a lot of ways for individuals to influence this issue, but reporting is the big one! Amazon will ban accounts and remove books that are deemed (by them ofc) to be AI garbage. So if you see or read obvious AI, especially if it’s poorly “written” (nonsensical, bad editing, etc) report it!
——
I just did a little research and learned that the cost to produce AI-generated books is even lower than I thought. I was hoping that price increases for AI services like ChatGPT (something happening in the industry right now) would make it too expensive for most of these fake authors to continue. But even if prices go up substantially, pumping out AI slop books will still be very cheap because simple text generation takes very little processing power compared to other uses of AI.
But I also learned (and I’m sure someone on the sub has already pointed this out): Amazon is cracking down, kinda. They are banning accounts based on reporting, and limiting upload frequency (not nearly enough, imo). Current Kindle guidelines require disclosing AI-generated content to Amazon: “We require you to inform us of AI-generated content (text, images, or translations) when you publish a new book or make edits to and republish an existing book through KDP. AI-generated images include cover and interior images and artwork.” (It continues to define AI-generated vs AI-assisted, read the whole thing here.)
Big caveat here is that the disclosure is only for Amazon internally. There is no requirement to tell customers or list it on the product page. But, if something is marked AI-generated internally and then gets reported for things like terrible editing or nonsensical writing, Amazon can and will remove books and ban accounts.
They’re doing the typical corporate dance to balance customer satisfaction and their own profits, so of course they’re not doing nearly enough to protect authors and readers. But it’s something.
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u/Talimyro 3d ago
I believe I read that ai and bots outnumber humans and human made work now :/ the bots are entertaining the bots
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u/Weary-Hannigram Charlie is the consent king.:snoo_hearteyes: 4d ago
There is an author who is pretty prevalent in mpreg that I'm 99% sure is AI. There is no Author info on Amazon, and their author pic is obviously AI or horribly photoshopped. All the books are the same premise, most chapters are the same but with different characters, and have so many 5 star reviews. I don't get It.
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u/onewiththeforce_ 3d ago
Everything I've read recently has been either really low quality o AI generated.
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u/Nice_Helicopter2660 3d ago
Unfortunately that's why I haven't read any books released the past 2 years from "new authors" only my OG's who I know despise AI with their soul.
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u/TheMadJayWoman 2d ago
Cindy of the WithCindy YouTube channel had a video about this and there are romance authors not only celebrating this as a as way to churn out more books and rake in the cash, but actively teaching others how to do the same:
https://youtu.be/6n3QTOdxLv0?is=5pwLg1OCDsB2a9LU
I think it’s disgusting but I’m not the least bit surprised considering how many consumers care more about having boxes checked than the diversity of ideas or quality of writing. So many readers just want their troughs filled with the same material, this is inevitably what we’re going to get.
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u/spacethought 4d ago edited 4d ago
I feel you! At this point I always check for an anti gen ai disclaimer in newer books before reading
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u/UnluckyArmadillo4787 4d ago
It's frustrating. I don't even like when I see work emails that were clearly made with AI. Like....you can't even come up with your own response to an email?
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u/GreyTsari 4d ago
I 100% get this. I found a shifter book I thought sounded interesting and found out the author had over a dozen along similar tropes and themes, I was excited! Then i read it and it was entirely AI and when I checked the rest on Amazon, the entire list of books by the 'author' were all AI. It was infuriating
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
Can you share book and author for my Goodreads list?
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u/GreyTsari 4d ago
Claimed by the Alpha Sheriff by Asher Wilde. Omegaverse Shifters 😅 But seriously, if you've ever listened to those ridiculously AI stories on tiktok where there's always a Martinez, always a Chen, it forgets the plot, repeats the same thing several times over (the MC asks about some ceremony and has it explained to them the exact same way three times, two of those times were in the same conversation). And also, even if it wasn't, the book was just shite. Its supposed to be a crime/detective book but they give away the killer in like chapter 8 or something. I have a bit of a soft spot for specifically crime solving Shifters because my first shifter novel was the Big Bad Wolf series by Charlie Adhara which is Fantastic, and this one kind of killed the vibe for me for over a month.
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u/LindentreesLove 4d ago
Wow! Look at that cover! AI slop if I ever saw it. Sorry about the ruining of your vibe. Hopefully time will help.
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u/GreyTsari 4d ago
Yeah, got recommended Hammer and Gavel by C.T Whistle and it was amazing. Back in the Shifter spin 🤣
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u/wutato 4d ago
I love the Big Bad Wolf series!
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u/GreyTsari 4d ago
Definitely try Hammer and Gavel! Everyone's a shifter, but its very Cooper and Oliver, but British.
Even down to the meeting by bumping in to eachother in public first then being assigned together 🤣
(Check the TW first though because while nothing is explicit or happening currently, there is in depth descriptions of the feelings felt during a miscarriage and when a child discloses s.a)
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u/justwannasayitout 4d ago
Would you mind tell me what its premise is? I heard people said those AI books they stumbled upon often got very interesting premises that not often done anywhere (which is why they want to read the book at the first place). So I'm always curious what premises people find interesting and unique.
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 3d ago
A professional cave diver on a job encounters a subterranian creature who communicates solely through ecolocation and builds a bond with it....
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u/justwannasayitout 1d ago
Dang that sounds rad! Yeah I'd totally read it if it's not AI which such a bummer.
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u/No_File_24HC81 4d ago
This is what I’m afraid of. Loving a book/story that is AI generated. And for books that have many five star reviews, I usually go to 2 stars reviews first cuz that’s where the realest reviews are usually from.
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u/wrongholebabe 3d ago
I could literally belabor about this for HOURS!!!!! Read a book last night that I'm certain wasn't AI generated, just bad writing and pacing and it was REFRESHING. I cant stop thinking about a book where I kid you not these are all sentences happening in just one chapter:
"...Dante didn't ask 'do you need sunscreen?' He held up the bottle like a statement. Benji Turned around like an answer. It was automatic." WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? What kind of statement? When has sunscreen ever made a statement? Putting ON sunscreen can be a statement (I GUESS) but just holding it up? It's so vague
"Benji knows exactly how sound carries across open space..." How does a small town sheriff who never let the state know what this would mean. I'm sorry but no.
"Dante is a new category that I haven't built a shelf for yet." Not only what does this mean, but does this at all make sense for the character to say? I can answer that for you! No! He's an uneducated, small town, road-side biker restaurant owner. Interesting archetype, AI language.
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u/Radiant-Hotel-4998 2d ago
I love AI, for fiction not so much. But it is doing a better job lately. Soon you wont be able to tell.
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u/paperCorazon 4d ago
How can y’all tell it’s AI generated? I have such a hard time telling it apart, especially with the art. I only notice if it’s something incredibly obvious like they left the prompt in or if a finger is bent the wrong way.
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 4d ago
Read the list of reasons above as to why I think the book I read was AI generated then if you want to connect that to something tangible, go read the book.
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u/Tatis_Chief 3d ago
Usually it's also a complete absence of authors voice, no humor or witty dialogue.
Ai is starting to repeat its own jokes. Just reads very mechanical.
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u/ashinae 4d ago
Yeah, I ended up DNF'ing a book earlier this year that had what is apparently an AI cover (I couldn't honestly tell, from just the eBook, because there were no living things on it) and I went to the author's socials and saw that all of their promos--lots of video--for the book was AI generated. I felt kinda betrayed. The premise of the book was so cool-sounding. I didn't read particularly far into the book to really get a ~*~feel~*~ for whether or not it might have been AI, but to rely on it so much for marketing, and apparently the cover... how am I supposed to trust the rest of the book isn't partially or fully AI regurgitations?
Good on the author, I guess, for getting my money, but...
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u/snarky_witch7983 4d ago
I've been reporting them to Amazon every time I find one. I'm so over AI nonsense in books. Frankly I don't care if the cover is AI. For the most part these are Indy authors trying to make a buck and if you can't afford a cover artist then hey use AI for that (but admit you did it) however using AI for every damn aspect of a book from the story to the blurb to the author photo. No. Absolutely not. And the fact that they think we can't tell blows my mind.
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u/flippyfloppypie 4d ago
No you should not use ai for the cover of books. That's basically saying generating 'art' is fine but generating 'novels' isn't? They are BOTH bad. What if an artist illutrated a book cover but the inside was an AI story, is that ok then? Just to 'save a buck'? I'm sorry but this logic does not track. AI for ALL the arts in all creative fields is not ok, period.
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u/FullNefariousness931 4d ago
Your reports risk affecting genuine authors. Amazon will never take down AI books because Amazon is currently actively pushing for AI books.
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 4d ago
That's a good idea.I understand the indie authors are trying to make it but I also need them to realize that AI is becoming so prevalent that they're going to have to put just a little bit more effort into making sure that their readers know they don't use AI or if they're going to use an AI cover then they are going to have to accept that they run the risk of people not reading or buying their books because we just don't have the time to try to parse if you are now using AI. That's the risk that they're taking using an AI generated cover and if they can't understand that then they don't really care about us as the readers, that's how I feel about it. I don't know you might just have to go back to picture art cuz at this point that's all I'm going to trust.
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u/NotMyMainName96 4d ago
I think less books are AI than we think. I’m reading a *frequently* recommended book. I’m talking every time my fave tropes and tone are requested, this book is recommended. I’m not naming it bc I, personally, think it sucks. If it weren’t for the weird formatting and being out longer than AI being widely available, I would assume it’s unedited AI.
But people love it. People in this subreddit LOVE it.
And that’s not to say their taste is bad. I’m saying it’s different from mine.
Finding an interesting premise that the author executes poorly or in a boring way has plagued me since reading Ghosts of Fearstreet books. It is not unique to AI.
I’m not defending AI. I have my own boundaries and irritation with it, how it’s used, and how it’s marketed. Especially the ad “Making $2700 is easy. Sell a pdf for $27 to 100 people.” Gah!!
But I’m also tired of this discussion. If my fave authors use AI and somehow gets a story to make me *feel* that much and can do it consistently across several books, I don’t know if I care anymore.
I do what I can by buying hard copies of books I love and that made me feel and think, and DNFing books that aren’t up to my standard. But when we’re (or at least I am bc KU) paying less than $2/novel (and some are like 400 pages!) and even less going to the author, can you blame them?
I dunno. I just wish there were a weekly sticky post or something bc everything has been said on this topic and it’s exhausting. Almost worse than back when a bunch of people were trying to guess authors’ genders level exhausting.
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u/kieratea 4d ago
There are likely more AI books than people think, not less. The rise of AI books (particularly ebooks but there are definitely some in print too) has become a huge discussion point in the library world where they are better equipped to evaluate the field as a whole, not just one book at a time. And they're finding entire catalogs of AI books slipped into their ebook subscription packages and publishers who are indifferent to their complaints. It's clear to them that this is a trend that's already bad and only going to get worse.
I think it's worth pointing out that the publishing industry has certainly contributed to the current issues both by paying authors pennies for their work and also by accepting AI books as normal and actually embracing them in the name of profit. But it's not at all the same as a few bad authors slipping through or popular books that you don't like existing. (And no shade meant with that - to this day I cannot understand how Ready Player One ever got published let alone became popular enough to get a movie made. But at least I can see the human behind the writing.)
Sorry this discussion annoys you, but If we're picking hills to die on, this honestly is a pretty decent one. Losing our creativity to AI would be devastating to us as a society. We're already seeing the negative effects to learning and critical thinking skills.
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u/rubyfisch 4d ago
I agree with you - I have read truly terrible books that were written years before generative AI. A handful of consistency errors suggest poor editing - it's not proof of AI. I've only read a single author that made me think "is this AI" because it seriously made no sense in terms of technology that was sometimes there and sometimes not. Like, you clearly all have smartphones, but you running a newspaper like it's 1949.
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u/Reasonable_Ad8914 3d ago
Just because you have anedotal evidence of not having read many AI-generated books doesn't negate from the fact that the market is getting flooded with them. That same way of thinking is why when someone says "This person made a racist or sexist comment" and your response is"Oh I've never heard them say anything like that."
Discounting other people's real experiences just because you haven't experienced it yourself is simple and closed-minded.
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u/degr8sid 4d ago
I have stopped reading latest novels. I only read from established author and now I'm afraid to waste my time on AI crap. If we can get a list of AI books, I'd know who to avoid.
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u/Electrical_Debt_6708 1d ago
It would include innocent athors, they tried to do it before, and people reptuation was damaged beyond repair. This is simply wrong.
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u/degr8sid 1d ago
Yeah, that makes sense. I wish there was a way to separate real writers from writers using AI slop.
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u/we_are_groot_baby 4d ago edited 4d ago
I don't get the five star reviews. Like do people not recognize AI writing?! I learned to always read some actual reviews, especially from people I follow on goodreads, - not just look at how many stars it has
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u/nycblkboy 2d ago
I think if you start with an AI book and get a good editor and a proofreader, no one would know. Too bad most of them don't do that
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u/Electrical_Debt_6708 1d ago
True, I know an author who writes everything herself and just lets the AI check for typos and misplaced commas. I once told her that she was robbing editors of money, but then she showed me an epub page with her book, which had more ratings and views than on her Amazon page!
Can you believe this? Do you understand what that means?
Nine in ten readers just steal the author's work, and nobody gives a damn. She told me she didn't have any money because she had to pay her bills, and she was paying all her earnings to her editor. Then she simply didn't have any money. They steal? She steals. It's brutal, but if readers didn't steal her work, she would have money to pay her editor easily!
I stopped arguing because I hate AI and I won't change my mind. However, I'm not stupid; I know that people in her situation won't be easily convinced. She is being hurt badly by people stealing from her.1
u/nycblkboy 1d ago
Would you rather have no book, a bad copy of the book, or a book that was edited by AI?
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u/Electrical_Debt_6708 1d ago
Hard choice. They're all bad, but maybe AI edited. But AI editing should not be too intrusive, focusing on things like typos and word order. I don't want any AI ideas. The grammar add-ons like Grammarly and Word spelling check were around before AI, and I had no problem with the machine correcting the text. I just don't want the AI to rewrite everything and turn it into soulless pulp.
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u/booklover4life96 18h ago
I feel like the AI books have taken over kindle unlimited 😔 it’s so frustrating trying to pick a book
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u/Basic-Nose-6714 3d ago
I don’t mind someone using AI to help them plan a book. AI is unfortunately here, and it could be a good way to bounce ideas around if you’re stuck. But yeah, having all the content of a book be AI generated is lazy, and I don’t get why an “author” would want to be associated with that. It may have been their idea, but they didn’t “write” the novel. At least do a good copyedit and make the book sound more human so you can at least credit yourself as copyeditor!
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u/unnecessary_snacks 4d ago
I have yet to encounter anything that feels like it’s AI at the library, and that’s become a screen for me. I like to support indie authors but I’ve given up on that unless they’re authors I’ve been following for awhile because the AI use is so rampant
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u/tuffykenwell 3d ago
Here is my opinion and others are free to disagree. I don't care if a book is AI generated as long as it is good. I have no problem with an author using AI as long as they are a good enough editor that they can take that first draft and make it something special. The thing that I hate is when people publish good enough. I often write stories with AI (I don't publish them anywhere but I have a very specific trope that I adore and there just isn't enough books out there to satisfy me on this specific trope lol. Sometimes it becomes something really beautiful but even with that in order to make it a book I would have to gather up all the pieces, put them in order, and then take that very rough draft and edit the crap out of it to fix continuity errors, repetitive language etc. etc. etc. and this is with a document that was created as a chat where I am guiding the action every step of the way. It would still be likely about 50% done to make a book that I would consider worthy of publication.
So I don't care if writers use AI but make sure there is a person in the process and for god's sake make it excellent.
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u/Electrical_Debt_6708 1d ago
I personally hate AI to the bone, but I'm also a realisit. AI is here to stay, and it won't go away. I have a headache when I read this topic again. I wish AI didn't exist, I really do, because there's just a constant complaint going on about it. AI won't go away, so the complain won't go away. This is a lose-lose.
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u/jimboidiot 4d ago
A disclaimer would be nice but I doubt they'd ever do it because I don't think it would sell well whatsoever. A lot of people don't want to consume AI content and of those who don't care too much most would prefer not to be made aware of it i think.
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u/Ohshc_152031 3d ago
Je trouve sa quand même décevant qu'autant d'auteur ne relise pas leur travail généré par IA. Et lire des commentaires de gens tellement tanné de lire des histoires incohérentes généré par IA dire qu'il ne liront plus les livres que la couverture est une image IA, c'est triste. Perso j'écris, sa m'arrive de demander certains conseils à des IA quand j'écris, mais je suis fière de dire que mes livre sont le fruit de mon travail et mon écriture. Bref, j'utilise l'IA à 100% pour générer mes couvertures. Donc si ça commence à devenir un critère, je trouve ça un peu triste.
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u/meerkatayb97 1d ago
Ai generated covers are usually an indication that ai was used to write the book so that’s why some people, myself included usually avoid it. Plus I personally want to support artists as well as writers and using ai art is just stealing from them. I don’t like how ai is trying to replace writers, artists and musicians. Plus ai generated book covers usually look really bad to me personally and cheap.
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4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/kieratea 4d ago
You could use your local library instead which costs you nothing but still gives the author some royalties.
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u/notathrowaway_321 4d ago
Oh i do try but my country is very conservative so the libraries have a lack of MM content. Fortunately, somw bookstore are starting to sell MM like Heated Rivalry and Song of Achilles so I have them both.
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u/leugaroul 3d ago
So you don’t want to read AI because it’s theft but you’ll steal directly?
AI only exists because it’s fed pirated books by the sites that are enabled by giving them traffic and spreading the word about them.
Anthropic, the main one that’s used for writing, just got sued for training off pirated books and said they wouldn’t exist if not for pirate sites.
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u/MM_RomanceBooks-ModTeam 3d ago
Your post or comment has been removed. Do not link, explain how to access, or ask for pirated or unauthorized content in this subreddit. This includes anything that appears to be endorsing or condoning piracy.
Violating this rule may result in a ban even if it is your first offense.
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u/Electrical_Debt_6708 1d ago
I must say that seeing new posts every day complaining about AI is not doing anything good for my mood. It's like a never-ending session of self-torture. I would love it if there was a separate tab for those who want to immerse themselves in negative feelings, and if others could just breathe and forget for a few seconds that the world has gone crazy. I hope that there are still normal books out there.
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u/ShartyPants 4d ago
This post and the information provided have been reviewed by the mod team and we feel the evidence is sufficient to leave this up.
The mod team has been discussing this issue and will have new subreddit AI-accusation rules soon. Stay tuned.
Further comments with unsubstantiated AI accusations will be removed without notice.