Earlier this month, Amazon rolled out chatbots for digital books, allowing readers to ask questions about the book they’re reading and receive AI-generated answers, which are prone to inaccuracies. There is no way for authors or publishers to turn off this feature or opt out. (See my coverage with examples from Dec. 17.)
The Authors Guild has raised concerns directly with Amazon, arguing that interactive chatbots represent a new format for books, with rights that must be negotiated and paid for. They write at their site, “[Amazon] could usurp the burgeoning licensing market for interactive AI-enabled ebooks and audiobooks. … We believe Amazon should move to a permissioned, paid model and urge it to do so.” Amazon has limited the feature in response but not turned it off. Learn more.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
