Amazon broken? AI-generated books hog Kindle Unlimited best-sellers list; author protests

tech.hindustantimes.com:

While the positives of artificial intelligence cannot be overstated, the same rule applies to its downsides. Recently, a song titled Heart on My Sleeve created a big controversy after it was revealed to be generated by AI, and major streaming sites pulled it off their shelves. Similarly, a new crypto scam was seen on social media platforms where AI-generated images of adventurer and celebrity Bear Grylls and former football player Ian Wright were used to spread fake news. Now, according to an indie author, the dark side of AI is spreading across Amazon's Kindle Unlimited.

Caitlyn Lynch, an indie author recently tweeted about the issue of AI-generated books dominating Kindle Unlimited. She said, “The AI bots have broken Amazon. Take a look at the Best Sellers in Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Romance eBooks top 100 chart. I can see 19 actual legit books. The rest are AI nonsense clearly there to click farm”.

Kindle Unlimited is a monthly subscription program by Amazon that gives members access to more than 4 million digital books, as well as thousands of audiobooks, comics, and magazines. It is a convenient way for Kindle owners to read a vast variety of books without paying for each of them individually.

The subscription also allows authors to showcase their books who self-publish through Amazon's Kindle Direct Program. It has an easy sign-up process and you don't need to go through the procedures of a large publishing house to get your book to the readers. Many self-published authors today have developed their own fan base using Kindle Unlimited's platform.

However, due to the easy process, it has also become a hotspot for bad actors who have flooded the space with a high volume of AI-generated books. The books are of low