How to spot AI e-books and audiobooks in the Kindle Store and beyond
Source: Mashable Tech
If you spend any time online — regardless of whether you’ve wanted to — you’ve encountered AI. Whether AI is an interest or a concern, it’s hard to avoid it either way. For those choosing to be a little more analog and spend more time with their head in a book rather than online, you may think you can easily avoid AI, but we have some bad news. AI is coming for your books, too.
AI‑written books are flooding the e‑book and audiobook markets on both Libby and the Kindle Store. Luckily, AI‑narrated audiobooks are easy to spot once you know what to look for. E‑books, on the other hand, are a little trickier. If you want to keep AI out of your Kindle or e‑reader library, here’s how to spot AI‑generated e‑books and audiobooks in the Kindle Store and beyond.
How to identify AI‑written books
Identifying AI‑written books requires a bit of sleuthing since that information isn’t disclosed. Kindle Direct Publishing does require authors to disclose if their book has AI‑generated or‑assisted content, but that disclosure isn’t shared publicly.
Search the author’s name
Investigating the author, Devendra Singh, on GoodReads shows an expansive but certainly unrealistic collection of titles.
If you find a book online and suspect AI, start by searching the author’s name. An internet search should point you to a website or publisher information; if nothing shows up, the book is probably AI‑generated.
Some AI‑authored content does appear somewhat legit, with a GoodReads page, but look carefully at the listings. If the author seems to have a random assortment of titles or more published work than is realistically possible, that’s another sign it’s AI and not a real person.
Look for typos in the title and description
A common tactic of AI‑generated books is to copy popular titles, so if a title looks a little off, there’s probably a reason. AI‑written content often gives itself away with awkward phrasing and typos. Read through the title and description carefully for errors such as “We do promise” or “We are promise to you,” which often indicate AI generation without human editing.
Examine the cover for AI‑generated images
If you don’t want AI anywhere in your book, check the cover. AI art is getting very good, and you might not recognize it immediately. Tools like AI or Not have about an 80 % success rate at detecting AI‑generated artwork.
How to spot AI‑read audiobooks
Check the narrator
Even if a book isn’t written with AI, the audiobook might still be. AI‑narrated audiobooks are becoming common, with Libby users spotting books that list a digital, virtual, or synthesized voice as the narrator. Unlike AI authorship, AI narration is usually disclosed and is easy to spot. For more details, see the guide on how to spot AI audiobooks on Libby.