I trust books. At least, I used to. I grew up in the pre-internet era of bookshops and libraries. The printed word was the best source of information. Back then, there was an inherent trust that a book earned by default.
Fast forward to today's internet-heavy, AI-infused world. A (large) part of me still wants to believe in the credence of a published book, at least the non-fiction books. These books are supposed to come from fact-checked, credible sources. Right?
I find it funny that I still have this level of trust today, given the lack of trust I have elsewhere. When my phone rings, I immediately assume it is spam. When I get an unexpected email, I pour through the message headers and hover over links for clues to prove whether it is safe. When I am on social media, well... let's not go there.
It is also true that there are some books which break trust. James Frey's A Million Little Pieces immediately comes to mind. Originally published as a memoir, this book was rebranded as semi-fiction after the author admitted to embellishing significant parts of the story.
Despite examples like this and my near-immediate distrust of a good part of the internet, my trust in books has remained steady.
Until today.
I recently read an article from the Guardian titled ‘Dangerous nonsense’: AI-authored books about ADHD for sale on Amazon. The title immediately struck a nerve because, for a variety of personal reasons, I happen to be reading more about ADHD. So far, my reading list has been limited to recommendations from a trusted doctor.
But now, I need to worry about AI authors?! I did some research into the authors of the books listed in article. One has profile photo; another's photo is obviously AI-generated. No author's bio has any specific information about their credentials or experience. Googling these authors provides no further information. No website. No press releases. No media at all. As a real-live human author, that is unfathomable.
There is now a sizeable dent in my default trust of books. And gaining trust is hard. An author of a credible work needs to have credentials in the subject they write about. They need to do their research. Their work needs to be reviewed. But, first and foremost, the author needs to exist in real life. It is truly sad that is no longer a given.