Amazon Limits Authors to Self-Publishing 3 Books Per Day Amid Flood of AI Garbage

To prevent AI-written novels from flooding Amazon, the company is placing a cap on the number of self-published books an author can release per day. 

Amazon announced the restriction to users of its Kindle Direct Publishing platform today, citing the company’s active monitoring of “the rapid evolution of generative AI.”

“While we have not seen a spike in our publishing numbers, in order to help protect against abuse, we are lowering the volume limits we have in place on new title creations,” it said.

The announcement doesn’t mention a specific limit. But the company told The Guardian it's currently restricting authors to three self-published books per day when previously there was no cap. Amazon adds it can adjust the three-book-per-day limit “if needed.”

The restriction arrives as a growing number of users are harnessing programs such as ChatGPT to generate entire novels. In addition, videos showing how people can create AI-written books to make money on Amazon have been appearing for months.  

Although using AI to write a book can fulfill someone's lifelong dreams of becoming a published author, the technology has also been spotted creating books about nonsense and other works that can lead to harm. For example, AI-generated books on Amazon about mushroom foraging were found containing inaccurate information that could cause someone to poison themselves, according to 404 Media. 

In response, Amazon this month began requiring authors to disclose if their book contained any AI-generated text, images, or translation. “We’ll reject or remove content that does not adhere to these guidelines and promptly investigate any book when notified of potential noncompliance,” the company says in its updated guidelines.  

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Now Amazon is taking another step to stop a potential flood of AI-written books from circulating on the company’s marketplace. In the announcement, the company adds that “very few publishers will be impacted by this change and those who are will be notified and have the option to seek an exception.” 

Still, the three-book limit means an author could still dump 21 AI-written novels per week, and potentially more, if they start an additional Amazon publishing account. Why the company isn't instituting a tighter restriction remains unclear when it often takes months or years for people to write a single book. For now, Amazon would only confirm to PCMag that the current cap is set at three self-published books per day.