Tudor Tarita , ZME Science; Amazon’s Bestselling Herbal Guides Are Overrun by Fake Authors and AI
[Kip Currier: This is a troubling, eye-opening report by Originality.ai on AI-generated books proliferating on Amazon in the sub-area of "herbal remedies". As a ZME Science article on the report suggests, if this is the state of herbal books on the world's largest bookseller platform, what is the state of other book areas and genres?
The lack of transparency and authenticity vis-a-vis AI-generated books is deeply concerning. If a potential book buyer knows that a book is principally or wholly "authored" by AI and that person still elects to purchase that book with that knowledge, that's their choice. But, as the Originality.ai report identifies, potential book buyers are being presented with fake author names on AI-generated books and are not being informed by the purveyors of AI-generated books, or the platforms that make those books accessible for purchase, that those works are not written by human experts and authors. That is deceptive business practice and consumer fraud.
Consumers should have the right to know material information about all products in the marketplace. No one would countenance (except for bad actors) children's toys deceptively containing harmful lead or dog and cat treats made with substances that can cause harm or death. Why should consumers not be concerned in similar fashion about books that purport to be created by human experts but which may contain information that can cause harm and even death in some cases?
Myriad ethical and legal questions are implicated, such as:
- What are the potential harms of AI-generated books that falsely pose as human authors?
- What responsibility do platforms like Amazon have for fake products?
- What responsibility do platforms like Amazon have for AI-generated books?
- What do you as a consumer want to know about books that are available for purchase on platforms like Amazon?
- What are the potential short-term and long-term implications of AI-generated books posing as human authors for consumers, authors, publishers, and societies?]
[Excerpt]
"At the top of Amazon’s “Herbal Remedies” bestseller list, The Natural Healing Handbook looked like a typical wellness guide. With leafy cover art and promises of “ancient wisdom” and “self-healing,” it seemed like a harmless book for health-conscious readers.
But “Luna Filby”, the Australian herbalist credited with writing the book, doesn’t exist.
A new investigation from Originality.ai, a company that develops tools to detect AI-generated writing, reveals that The Natural Healing Handbook and hundreds of similar titles were likely produced by artificial intelligence. The company scanned 558 paperback titles published in Amazon’s “Herbal Remedies” subcategory in 2025 and found that 82% were likely written by AI.
“We inputted Luna’s author biography, book summary, and any available sample pages,” the report states. “All came back flagged as likely AI-generated with 100% confidence.
A Forest of Fakes
It’s become hard (sometimes, almost impossible) to distinguish whether something is written by AI. So there’s often a sliver of a doubt. But according to the report, The Natural Healing Handbook is part of a sprawling canopy of probable AI-generated books. Many of them are climbing Amazon’s rankings, often outselling work by real writers...
Where This Leaves Us
AI is flooding niches that once relied on careful expertise and centuries of accumulated knowledge. Real writers are being drowned out by machines regurgitating fragments of folklore scraped from the internet.
“This is a damning revelation of the sheer scope of unlabeled, unverified, unchecked, likely AI content that has completely invaded [Amazon’s] platform,” wrote Michael Fraiman, author of the Originality.ai report.
The report looked at herbal books, but there’s likely many other niches hidden
Amazon’s publishing model allows self-published authors to flood categories for profit. And now, AI tools make it easier than ever to generate convincing, although hollow, manuscripts. Every new “Luna Filby” who hits #1 proves that the model still works.
Unless something changes, we may be witnessing the quiet corrosion of trust in consumer publishing."
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