ChatGPT listed as author or co-author of 200 e-books on Amazon Kindle

Writers are using ChatGPT to pen e-books on Amazon's Kindle store.

OpenAI's generative AI bot, ChatGPT, is now listed as an author or co-author of more than 200 e-books on Amazon's Kindle store.

As per a Reuters report, since Amazon doesn't explicitly require the disclosure of AI assistance by the authors, that number could be significantly higher.

Also Read | For tech giants, AI like Bing and Bard poses billion-dollar search problem

Reuters spoke to Brett Schickler, a salesman in Rochester, New York, who used ChatGPT to pen a 30-page illustrated children's e-book The Wise Little Squirrel: A Tale of Saving and Investing.

"The idea of writing a book finally seemed possible," said Schickler. "I thought 'I can do this'."

His book uses a crude rendition of Sammy the Squirrel, ironically also rendered by AI, who learns about saving money.

"I could see people making a whole career out of this," said Schickler.

He created the book using prompts on ChatGPT like "write a story about a dad teaching his son about financial literacy."

Naturally, the Author's Guild isn't excited about these advancements.

Speaking with Reuters, Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Author's Guild said, "This is something we really need to be worried about."

Rasenberger believes that "these books will flood the market and a lot of authors are going to be out of work".

Also Read | Microsoft increases limits on chat sessions with Bing AI

“There needs to be transparency from the authors and the platforms about how these books are created or you’re going to end up with a lot of low-quality books,” Rasenberger added.

Since its launch, ChatGPT has divided fans and has some worried that it will eventually come for their jobs.

When approached for a comment, Amazon spokesperson Lindsay Hamilton said, "All books in the store must adhere to our content guidelines, including by complying with intellectual property rights and all other applicable laws." But Hamilton did not explicitly mention if Amazon required authors to disclose using the AI.