In the modern digital era, an extraordinary phenomenon is shaping the landscape of literature: the rise of AI-generated books. The proliferation of AI-generated content is disrupting online platforms. As expected, the cookbook sector is also affected by this trend.
Journalist Matthew Kupfer noticed peculiarities in a cookbook he received from his parents. On his X thread, Kupfer shared images of the cookbook and highlighted some suspicious details.
The book, "The Complete Crockpot Cookbook for Beginners, 2024 edition," initially appeared ordinary. Yet, closer inspection revealed potential signs of AI-generated content.
For instance, the author's image seems dubious, resembling stock photos created by generative adversarial networks. Kupfer noted a missing shoulder, mismatched earrings, and a peculiar background. The author's biography on Amazon lacked substantial information beyond being a cookbook writer. The biography stated that the author was originally from Tuscany, leading Kupfer to suspect, stating: 'So she's from Tuscany and her surname is the Tuscany regional capital? A tad on the nose...'
Notably, the cookbook promises extensive recipes spanning thousands of days, which seems excessive even for avid crockpot enthusiasts. Reviews indicated discrepancies between the advertised number of recipes and the actual content, among other issues.
Reviews on Amazon are generally positive but vague, praising features like meal plans and recipe organization. However, negative reviews are more detailed, pointing out discrepancies such as fewer recipes than advertised, garlic chicken recipes lacking garlic, including obscure ingredients, the absence of a beef section despite featuring beef on the cover, etc.
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This is not an isolated incident. Knock-offs of real cookbooks have also swarmed online. Joanne Lee Molinaro's cookbook, "The Korean Vegan," had a strikingly similar imitation on Amazon. Upon further investigation, Molinaro concluded that the plagiarist was likely not human but a computer-generated entity. Utilizing her legal background, Molinaro and her publishing company successfully had the book removed from Amazon.
The Verge reporter Emilia David experimented last year by baking cakes using ChatGPT and Bard's recipes. Surprisingly, the results did not appear to be AI-generated at all. David noted that the recipes she received resembled those found on food blogs or Instagram, albeit with slight modifications. Only Bard (now called Gemini) provided attribution by linking to a recipe from "Sally's Baking Addiction."
Cookbook author and recipe developer Abi Balingit, known for her blog "The Dusky Kitchen," expressed concern that AI could affect the opportunities for food writers and developers to showcase their work. David stated that AI models can generate practical recipes. However, the resulting recipes lacked passion and specificity.
In September 2023, Amazon introduced a regulation restricting the number of books self-published authors can release on its platform to three per day. This decision came after increased suspected AI-generated content being listed for sale in recent months. The company announced these limitations on its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) forum, citing the need to prevent abuse. KDP enables authors to self-publish their works and offer them for sale on Amazon's website.
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