Key facts
- 63% of 2,034 religious books analyzed on Amazon were likely AI-written.
- Witchcraft books had the highest AI-generated rate at 78%.
- Hinduism (76%) and Taoism (74%) also showed high rates of AI content.
- AI detectors indicate likelihood, not definitive proof of AI authorship.
- AI detectors have previously shown false positives and conflicting results.
A study by AI detection firm Originality.ai has found that a significant majority of religious books available on Amazon are likely written by artificial intelligence. The analysis of over 2,000 recently published titles revealed that 63% were flagged as AI-generated.
The report, released Wednesday, examined 14 religious and belief categories. The category with the highest proportion of likely AI-written books was Witchcraft, Wicca & Paganism, with 78% of sampled titles flagged. Hinduism followed closely at 76%, and Taoism at 74%. Other categories like Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, atheism, and Satanism showed varying percentages, with Mormonism at 42%, atheism at 40%, and Satanism at 22%.
Report author Michael Fraiman explained that the AI model classified text scoring 50 or higher as 'Likely AI,' based on analysis of book descriptions, author bios, and content samples. However, he cautioned that the findings indicate likelihood rather than definitive proof, as AI detectors can produce false positives and conflicting results. The research team did conduct spot-checks and stated they could differentiate between AI-written and human-written content.
Amazon reportedly relies on authors to self-identify their work as AI-generated, and the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The study also touches upon the broader issue of AI developers using physical books for training data, with investigations tracking shipments of books to facilities for scanning.