AI-Generated Books of Nonsense Are All Over Amazon's Bestseller Lists
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Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited bestseller list was full of books with titles like “Apricot bar code architecture” and “Jessica’s Attention” earlier this week.

My title might be a bit hyperbolic, but stuff like this worries me. I love to read and I love reading on a kindle. This has been going on for a while, but it has now reached absurd levels.

    • aport@programming.devEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I had kindle unlimited a decade ago and it was decent. Lots of good sci-fi and fantasy.

      Then overnight the entire catalog became “shape shifting billionaire stepbrother bear” and other trash. It’s like browsing your spam folder.

    • blindsight@beehaw.orgEnglish
      0·
      1 year ago

      I haven’t found that, but I’m not using the Kindle storefront to find new books, so maybe that’s why?

      Or maybe it’s because KU and online web serials are the only popular spots for my favourite niche subgenre. Trad publishers don’t publish my favourite genres.

      • BarrierWithAshes@kbin.social
        1·
        1 year ago

        Yeah, this is more for people that actually use the recommendations. If you read Lit RPGs you’d also be completely exempt from this. If you read YA then you’re probably screwed but ehn.

    • doctortofu@kbin.social
      0·
      1 year ago

      So like the rest of Amazon then? Never used kindle, but Amazon for physical goods has been a dumpster fire for a while - completely overrun with dropshipped garbage, to the extent that it’s actually difficult now to find quality stuff in the sea of “brands” with random string of capital letter names, all using the same poorly photoshopped image…

      • macstainless@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        0·
        1 year ago

        The kindle eink reader is amazing and absolutely great. However I don’t use KU and rarely buy books on it. I mainly use my library and read the borrowed books on it. As a piece of hardware it’s one of the few Amazon builds well. I’m surprised too.

        • Mummelpuffin@beehaw.orgEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          This. I own a basic Kindle because it only cost me $60, and while I could upgrade to a better e-reader from a less monopolistic company, it’d just be a bit of e-waste I don’t need to produce, and in the meantime Calibre + NoDRM / DeDRM means I can read books from anywhere on it.