With James Frey’s novel NEXT TO HEAVEN publishing on June 17, a 2023 interview in which he said he was using generative AI in the writing of his work sparked controversy online. Critics shared an excerpt of the interview, noting that Book of the Month has selected his new novel NEXT TO HEAVEN as one of their upcoming picks. The AI portion of the interview refers specifically to a book-in-progress titled FOURSEVENTYSIX at the time. Frey has not published a book under that title, and it’s unclear whether that work has any relationship to NEXT TO HEAVEN. “Yes, I use […]
AI
Business Insider Commits to AI and Layoffs After Circulating Reading List with Fake Books
While an inaccurate AI-generated reading list that appeared in at least two major newspapers made national news last month, it was reportedly not the first AI-generated book list with invented titles in the media space. Last May, a Business Insider editor sent staffers a memo suggesting “Beacon Books,” memoirs and business titles that could help inform their journalism, such as Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Too Big To Fail, Semafor reports. The list appears to be AI-generated, including several titles that don’t exist or were misattributed to other authors. The news was revealed after Business Insider told staff last week that they […]
Outlets Apologize for AI-Generated Book List
The outlets behind a widely-circulated AI-created booklist, the majority of which were fake titles, have issued statements apologizing for the piece. The Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer, which both ran the “Heat Index” supplement that contained the list, noted that it was created by and syndicated from King Features, a division of Hearst. Neither paper’s newsroom staff had anything to do with it, they said. A spokesperson for King Features said in a statement, “King Features has a strict policy with our staff, cartoonists, columnists, and freelance writers against the use of AI to create content. “The Heat Index summer supplement […]
Newspapers Run Fake Summer Reading List
At least two major newspapers recently ran an AI-generated summer reading round up that featured several books that do not exist. The Philadelphia Inquirer (on May 15) and the Chicago Sun-Times (on May 18) both published a special insert, Heat Index: Your Best of Summer Guide, which included a list of 15 boks and brief descriptions. There are no publication records for nine of the listed books, including those by Isabel Allende, Andy Weir, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Min Jin Lee, Rumaan Alam, Rebecca Makkai, Maggie O’Farrell, Percival Everett, and Delia Owens. Confusingly, a few of the books at the end […]
UK Maintains Copyright Exhaustion Laws, Rejects Tech Transparency Amendment
The UK won’t change its post-Brexit IP rights exhaustion laws, after a lengthy consultation with stakeholders. According to the current and future regime, which is preferred by authors and publishers, copyrighted goods such as books that are sold in the UK or European Economic Area can be re-sold in the territories. The move avoids cheaper-priced books from outside of the EEA coming into the UK and undercutting the market. “This is an important step in maintaining the strength of our world-leading intellectual property framework,” Minister for AI and Digital Government Feryal Clark said.” The decision we’ve taken not only gives […]
Audible Rolls Out AI Narration Technology for Publishers, Preps for AI Translation
Audible officially announced their initiative to offer services for “fully integrated, end-to-end” AI narration and production for audiobooks, including machine translation. Publishers can choose from more than 100 voices in English, Spanish, French, and Italian, “with multiple accent and dialect options, and will be able to access voice upgrades for their titles as our technology evolves.” “Audible believes that AI represents a momentous opportunity to expand the availability of audiobooks with the vision of offering customers every book in every language, alongside our continued investments in premium original content,” Audible ceo Bob Carrigan. “We’ll be able to bring more stories […]