How AI is posing a challenge to authors, publishers

Forget about piracy, one of the current biggest threats, robbing millions of shillings annually from book authors and publishers, the publishing industry is now facing a new challenge of scammers using AI to produce books that closely mimic titles of bestsellers and highly sought-after works.

This means there is a high chance you might buy the wrong book with a nearly identical title if you are not careful to check the title and the author.

During the ongoing Sharjah International Book Fair, African authors and publishers highlighted emerging threats, where scammers are now leveraging highly evolving technologies to beat the systems.

“The current challenges are emerging because legislation is yet to catch up with technological developments and the risks it poses,” Wendy Kimani, the managing director of Narrative Landscape Press, said.

While piracy has been one of the biggest threats to the publishing industry, the new challenge posed by AI has been a critical discussion among publishers worldwide.

This month, publishers drawn across the world converged in the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, for a conference where they deliberated on emerging issues and possible legislation that governments and lawmakers could adopt to protect authors and publishers.

“A lot is happening in the sector, especially with the entry of AI. It is a very delicate balance, not only for the publishing industry but also for the creative industry in general.” Wendy said.

Dr Egosa Imasuen, the executive director of Narrative Landscape Press, said that while AI has eased work, especially in designing cover illustrations and cleaning up copies, the emerging challenge affects not only publishers and authors but also the readers.

One of their latest publications featuring Nigerian billionaire businessman and philanthropist Femi Otedola has seen several productions mimicking the original copy. The original copy of the book is titled ‘Making it Big’, but a search on the Amazon online store reveals several almost identical headlines.

“AI slop is a big threat and is rapidly gaining traction. Scammers target best-selling books, and before they are even released to the market, hundreds of almost similar titles are on sale,” Dr Imasuen said.

AI slop is low-quality, high-volume digital content that is generated using AI tools. Often, the copies are usually large and lack originality. They are frequently sold at the same price or slightly lower than the original, to lure gullible readers.

“Before releasing Femi Otedola’s book, over 70 copies of almost similar titles had already appeared online, and others had even been written in French. These copies were being sold for similar prices to what the book was selling, and others were a little lower,” Dr Imasuen said.

“Since many readers are interested in reading the content, they would preferably pick a cheaper one, which unfortunately is AI slop,” he said.

The book, which will be officially launched at the book fair has been widely bought. Within six weeks, the book had made over 46,000 sales.

“The reason why such books are targeted for piracy and even counterfeit editions is because they are memoirs of respected people who everyone wants to read about their stories,” Dr Imasuen said.

To combat this new threat of generating counterfeit books online, readers have a choice of reporting the books to be flagged. This means that the scammers cannot be paid for the work that has been reported.

While AI slop is fast gaining traction, there are currently no laws that prohibit such.

Book titles, names, short phrases, and even slogans cannot be copyrighted since they lack the originality required for copyright protection. Copyright, however, covers the content. And scammers are now exploiting AI tools to summarise and even rewrite the contents of best-selling books without infringing on copyright laws.

As the book industry seeks ways to combat the current emerging threat, renowned author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie warned that the new challenge is a threat to creativity.

“People should use AI in a good way to make money and save time, but using AI to generate content that is not even verified is a lack of creativity,” Chimamanda told The Standard.

The author is one of the guests at this year’s Sharjah International Book Festival. She also warned that the internet is posing a challenge to creativity and readership, especially among young people across the continent.

“It is worrying that there is less reading among young people. The biggest contributor to this trend is heavy consumption of the internet and social media. As a writer and reader who believes in reading, we should encourage more physical reading among young people, especially in Africa, a continent that has long been misunderstood,” she said.

And while counterfeit books are fast becoming a challenge in the publishing industry, piracy remains one of the current biggest threats, which publishers say will require concerted efforts of authorities to curb the rising crime.