AI-written books and fewer reviews are changing how books get noticed

In short: More AI-generated books are showing up for sale online, while U.S. media outlets are cutting back on book reviews, and the combination could make serious writing harder to spot and support.

What's going on

Tools that can generate text are making it faster and cheaper to produce books, especially on self-publishing platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. In September 2024, Amazon set a limit of three new self-published titles per author per day to slow the flow.

Some data suggests the overall “flood” of AI books is often overstated. Self-publishing already produces about 1.4 million titles a year, and many AI-made books are low-effort non-fiction like short how-to guides, or very formulaic romance. These books often get poor reviews and low reader engagement, and recommendation systems may push them down, which makes them more like background noise than direct replacements for human authors.

Still, writers and publishers worry about the longer-term effects. The Authors Guild has warned that AI systems can be trained on books without paying authors, then imitate an author’s style closely enough to compete with them. Critics also point to a separate trend: many U.S. publications have reduced or removed dedicated book coverage, which means fewer reviews and fewer places for new, high-quality books to be discussed.

What to watch

The risk is a feedback loop. If cheap, fast books fill storefronts while reviews disappear, readers may mostly see what sells quickly, not what is thoughtful or original (like a crowded bookstore table where only the biggest stacks stay visible). Watch for new rules on labeling AI-written books, lawsuits about training AI on copyrighted books, and whether media outlets rebuild book sections to help readers discover a wider range of writing.

Source: NYTimes