None of these people exist, but you can buy their books on Amazon anyway

0xtero@beehaw.org to Technology@beehaw.org – 119 points – None of these people exist, but you can buy their books on Amazon anyway
conspirator0.substack.com

Our AI-generated future is going to be fantastic.

Archive link, so you don't have to visit Substack: https://archive.is/hJIWk

29

Here's a basically fully automated service where you can generate a shitty book for $200. You can even have it printed as a paperback for more useless waste or have it AI narrated as a shitty audiobook.

https://www.bookbud.ai/

I hate everything about it.

$200? I can use Llama on my computer for free.

How much time and power per page?

Then, it seems like Meta trained Llama with copyright protected books without permission, so the model might stop being free at any moment.

They're not going to make me pay for something that's already on my computer

Heh, we'll see.

For starters, keep that copy safe, in case Meta has to pull down all the "illegally opensourced" copies of LLaMA. If the "authors" (publisher corporations) have their way, it will become illegal to run the model without paying them royalties, so Meta will only be able to offer it as a paid service. You might still be able pirate it though, if people are willing to share.

For the future, when your next computer comes with neuromorphic RAM capable of running those models a billion times faster... just hope it doesn't also come with DRM checks built in to stop illegal models from being loaded ("RAM access error: unauthorized content detected"... doesn't that sound like every author's dream? 🙄)

Amazon has been having problems with books written by LLMs for almost a year, and it doesn't appear to do anything about it. For example:

AI Detection Startups Say Amazon Could Flag AI Books. It Doesn't (Sep 2023)

A new nightmare for writers shows how AI deepfakes could upend the book industry—and Amazon isn't helping (August 2023)

These are just two examples, you'll find many more. But people keep buying there and support this business.

[Edit typo.]

From your second link...

The story comes from author Jane Friedman, a veteran writer and academic who woke up to find AI-generated books listed under her name on Amazon.

I don't think AI is the problem here. It's that I can write a book, claim George R. R. Martin is the author and Amazon won't fact check me.

Amazon also sell faked AI products if you search for (bizarrely)...

“goes against OpenAI use policy”

Try that string and see what happens.

Those aren't faked products. Those are shitty products that have a shitty attempt at giving them descriptions.

Ew, substack…

Yeah sorry - edited OP and added archive link, so no one needs to hit substack servers.

Pardon my ignorance but I'm OOTL- why is substack a bad thing? ( I didn't know of its existence before this post)

They recently refused to remove pro-Nazi content from their site, claiming that doing so doesn't make the problem go away so therefore there's no point in trying.

For me, it's the refusal to demontize them that's particularly bad. I can understand free speech absolutists (in theory anyways, in practice you'll find that they VERY rarely actually are and will happily censor people they disagree with like LGBTQIA+ or sex work content), but that doesn't mean you need to actively be funding them!

This is a really good point. I’m sure they’re using a payment provider, so it might be worth it to go to them directly in the same way people have gone to advertisers to get Fox News hosts fired. The argument could be made that they’re funding domestic terrorism by white nationalists. The payment provider might be much less willing to take on that risk in the name of “free speech”.

I do almost all of my reading on a kindle - one of the ones with ads on the lock screen, and for months now all of the ads have been for this type of no-effort, low-quality, AI-generated garbage. Amazon clearly doesn't give a fuck as long as they make money.

There’s ads on the Lock Screen now? Ugh.

They have sold two 'tiers' of kindles for awhile, the one with ads on the lock screen is discounted.

It's not my favorite thing but iirc the lock screen is supposed to be the only place with ads.

Now? They've had the option almost since they first started selling them. It's like $10 to remove them permanently. Honestly didn't realize anyone would get the one with ads on purpose but hey, I didn't think people would use Twitter when I first heard about it either.

I bought a few of their tablets with ads on purpose - and then just blocked the ads.

I don't know how it is now, but the older ones you could root and disable the ads.

Ah yes, the automated plagiarism disguising machines in action.

I keep waiting for Amazon to start generating AI-driven online profiles spouting Ai-driven selling points for AI-generated media.
It's the AI version of "Flood the zone with shit" except the entire internet is The Zone.