Authors on Amazon Must Disclose AI-Generated Content
Amazon.com has responded to the Authors Guild and other organizations’ persistent complaints by implementing a new policy. As of now, writers who wish to sell their books through Amazon’s e-book program are obligated to notify the company beforehand if their work contains any artificial intelligence content.
The Authors Guild hailed the new rules, published on Wednesday, as a “welcome first step” in preventing the proliferation of computer-generated books on the e-commerce site. Many authors feared that computer-generated books would displace traditional works and be unfair to consumers who did not know they were buying AI content.
In a statement posted on its website, the guild expressed its gratitude to “the Amazon team for taking our concerns into consideration and taking this important step towards ensuring transparency and accountability for AI-generated content.”
A paragraph published this week on Amazon’s content guidelines page says, “We define AI-generated content as text, images, or translations created with an AI-based tool.” Amazon makes a distinction between AI-assisted content, which creators don’t have to disclose, and work produced by AI.
However, the initial impact of the decision may be limited because Amazon does not publicly identify books with artificial intelligence, which a company spokesperson said it can verify.
Mary Rasenberger, the guild’s CEO, said her organization has been in discussions with Amazon about the AI material since the beginning of this year.
“Amazon never objected to disclosure, they just said they had to consider it, and we kept pushing them. We think and hope they will eventually require disclosure when the work is produced by AI,” he told The Associated Press on Friday.
The guild, which represents thousands of published authors, helped organize an open letter in July urging AI companies not to use copyrighted material without permission. James Patterson, Margaret Atwood and Suzanne Collins are among the authors who endorsed the letter.
