With gingko “memory-boost tinctures”, fennel “tummy-soothing syrups” and “citrus-immune gummies,” AI “slop” has come for herbalism, a study published by a leading AI-detection company has found.
Originality.ai, which offers its tools to universities and businesses, says it scanned 558 titles published in Amazon’s herbal remedies subcategory between January and September this year, and found 82% of the books “were likely written” by AI.
“This is a damning revelation of the sheer scope of unlabelled, unverified, unchecked, likely AI content that has completely invaded [Amazon’s] platform,” wrote Michael Fraiman, author of the study.
“There’s a huge amount of herbal research out there right now that’s absolutely rubbish,” said Sue Sprung, a medical herbalist in Liverpool. “AI won’t know how to sift through all the dross, all the rubbish, that’s of absolutely no consequence. It would lead people astray.”
One of the apparently AI-written books, Natural Healing Handbook, is a No 1 bestseller in Amazon’s skincare, aroma therapies and herbal remedies, subcategories. Its introduction touts the book as “a toolkit for self-trust”, urging readers to “look inward” for solutions.
Natural Healing Handbook’s author is named as Luna Filby, whose Amazon page describes her as a “35-year-old herbalist from the coastal town of Byron Bay, Australia” and founder of the brand My Harmony Herb. Sarah Wynn, the founder of Wildcraft Journal, calls the book a “resource and an inspiration”.
However, neither Luna Filby, My Harmony Herb, Wildcraft Journal or Sarah Wynn appear to have any online presence beyond the Amazon page for the book – an indication, said Fraiman, that they may not exist. The Guardian could find no evidence of the pair. Originality.ai’s tool flagged available samples of the text as AI-generated with “100 % confidence”.
Originality.ai’s research turned up several red flags that indicate possible AI-generated herbalism content, including liberal use of the leaf emoji and nature-themed author names such as Rose, Fern, and Clove.
At least 29 of the apparently AI-generated books also referred to the work of controversial herbalists Barbara O’Neill and Alfredo Bowman, who have both promoted unproven cures for cancer.
Those books are part of a larger trend of unverified AI content being sold on Amazon. Last year, amateur mushroom pickers were warned to avoid foraging books sold on the platform, apparently written by chatbots and containing questionable advice on how to discern a lethal fungus from an edible one.
Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, said his organisation was urging Amazon to start labelling AI-generated content. “Any book that is fully AI-written should be labelled as such and AI slop must be removed as a matter of urgency.”
Amazon said: “We have content guidelines governing which books can be listed for sale, and we have proactive and reactive methods that help us detect content that violates our guidelines, whether AI-generated or not. We invest significant time and resources to ensure our guidelines are followed, and remove books that do not adhere to those guidelines.”
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