Post #3371972

"The image shows about 150 Amazon book covers that appear if you search the site for “100000 whys” (link). Some of these books are category bestsellers in children literature. You can view a zoomable, full-resolution version here. There’s nothing inhuman about any of these titles or covers. At the same time, I probably don’t need to convince you that you’re staring at the purest form of AI slop that now fills up many nonfiction book categories on Amazon. More specifically, what we’re seeing here is the artifact of the tools being quasi-deterministic: if a hundred “authors” give their favorite AI tool a similar prompt — say, “generate a reference book for children” — the model will produce functionally identical output perhaps 80% of the time. The similarities in the collage go far beyond the choice of titles: for example, all the covers in the top row feature a roaring dinosaur in the top left corner of the design. There are many other clusters in the data, too. Look for a recurring red-and-white cartoon rocket, a golden retriever, a lion, and so forth. The similarities extend even to author names: Ethan Bright, Nolan Bright, Pamela Bright, Daniel Bright, Thomas Bright, Andrew W. Bright, Mayan Bright, Mary Bright, Levi Bright — the Brights must be a big and exceptionally talented family." #AISlop https://lcamtuf.substack.com/p/the-100000-whys-of-ai