How are AI-generated books affecting the publishing industry and authors like Sam Thayer?

Since ChatGPT's release, the online book market has been flooded with AI-generated books that exploit copyright loopholes by mimicking successful titles. Sam Thayer discovered 16 AI books with similar titles to his bestseller 'The Forager's Harvest,' including variants like 'The Forager's Harvest Bible' and 'The Forager's Harvest 101.' These books use fake author names and AI-generated photos to deceive consumers. This practice is widespread, with AI-generated titles now outnumbering human-authored nonfiction books on Amazon. This trend not only undermines authors' livelihoods by siphoning sales but also raises serious consumer protection concerns.