After an influx of suspected artificial intelligence-generated material was listed for sale, Amazon said authors can only self-publish three books on its site in a single day. Where self-publishing was once unlimited, Amazon told The Guardian the cap is now three books per day, but the number could be adjusted “if needed.”
On Monday, Amazon announced the new rule on its Kindle Direct Publishing forum. The company said it was actively monitoring the growth of AI and the subsequent impacts on reading, writing and publishing.
“Very few publishers will be impacted by this change and those who are will be notified and have the option to seek an exception,” Amazon said in the post.
The new rule illustrates the tricky spot many industries find themselves in with AI. They’re trying to use the expanded abilities of AI to spur innovation, while trying to be mindful of the consequences. The literary sphere, whether writing, reading or publishing books, is not exempt. Statista reported that 23% of U.S. authors have used AI in their work. Almost 50% of surveyed authors said they’ve used AI as a grammar tool, but 10% said AI generated their entire manuscript.
“From assisting in research to streamlining content creation and distribution, AI offers promising avenues for increased productivity and efficiency,” Peter Gregory, senior director of Cyber GRC and GCI Communications wrote in a Forbes Council Post. “However, it also raises concerns about the preservation of human voice and original thought.”
AI opens up a lot of thorny issues, including what data an AI system is basing its responses on, and whether other writers’ works are unwittingly being used to generate new copy.
Earlier this month, Amazon said it would begin asking authors if they’re content was AI-generated when publishing a new title, making edits or republishing a title through its site. Kindle Direct Publishing’s content guidelines state that authors don’t need to disclose AI-assisted content, which Amazon defines as using AI to “edit, refine, error-check, or otherwise improve that content” which is original to the author.
Amazon wasn’t immediately available for comment.