This year, there's a lot of talk about AI generated content - e.g. using AI to write blog posts, websites, etc.
It's not just text - there's now AI image generation tools - although this has raised some concerns about copyright (e.g. the AI including content that is copyrighted, e.g. parts of artwork, etc.).
An important reminder that with AI - there will still be copyright issues. Don't assume that anything automaticaly generated will not have any copyright issues. Both whether something created using AI (i.e. that you haven't really created) can be copyrighted - and also whether it's generated results using copyrighted material it's trained with.
AI generated content is also not a substitute for the personal and human touch that a book you have written yourself will bring - your voice, knowledge, experience and skills.
You can often read a book from an author, and if you are familiar with their work, identify who has written that book.
AI generated content will also care less about how accurate information is, whether it's copying and pasting content elsewhere (even with public domain content you still need to be careful).
While the technology for AI generated content will improve over time, even in a few years time, it will still be no substitute for a book you have actually written yourself.
I don't believe AI content is bad - it will have some uses - however for things like blog posts, books, etc. I don't think it's appropriate.
People read books and blog posts because they want to see what the author has to say and share - not some AI generated system.
A number of "get rich quick" YouTube videos (including those who previously promoted so-called "low content books" - something else I discourage) are trying to encourage people to create books using AI content - please don't!
(As a side note - you definitely won't get rich quick self publishing books - despite what the YouTube and TikTok videos promise.)
If AI generated books are encouraged, I believe it will damage the reputation of self publishing.
Personally, I believe Amazon's KDP (and other self publishing platforms) need to introduce terms and conditions, and safeguards, to prevent a further flood of books created using AI.
Some mainstream and smaller publishers that previously accepted submissions for books have had to stop accepting them - due to a flood of submissions using AI.
Anyone wanting info from AI can just ask ChatGPT themselves about a topic anyway, without having to buy a book.
There's also a risk that you can get your self publishing accounts deleted by using AI to quickly "write" a book.
Don't think about money, or trying to cut corners for an "instant" solution. Take your time - whether that's a few weeks, months or even years - and write a book that you can be proud of.
Remember (and as I often say in my blog posts) - it's YOUR NAME on the front cover. Your book. Your reputation. Whether it's AI, ghostwritten, etc. - ultimately it's your book. There is no cutting corners.
If you have an idea for a book - perhaps you are writing a book and wondering what to do next, or have an idea and wondering where to start - I have a range of help, support and resources.
Including my book on writing/self publishing, and one-to-one help.
Contact me to discuss further, or visit: booksandnetworking.co.uk/writing
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Plus a number of business "experts" encouraging people to write a book as a glorified business card - again using AI.
Interestingly, since I wrote the blog post, I've discovered that one self publishing company - Ingram Spark - have banned books written in AI. This has an impact if you use other self publishing companies, e.g. KDP, as they actually use Ingram Spark to distribute their books to bookstores.