Slow Down: AI-written ADHD books on Amazon spark controversy

Amazon’s marketplace is becoming a breeding ground for AI-generated books on sensitive health topics like ADHD, raising serious concerns about medical misinformation. These chatbot-authored works, which claim to offer expert advice but often contain dangerous recommendations, exemplify the growing challenge of regulating AI-generated content in digital marketplaces where profit incentives and ease of publication outweigh quality control and safety considerations.

The big picture: Amazon is selling numerous AI-generated books that claim to offer expert ADHD management advice but appear to be entirely authored by chatbots like ChatGPT.

• Multiple titles targeting men with ADHD diagnoses were found on the platform, including guides focused on late diagnosis, management techniques, and specialized diet and fitness advice.
• Analysis by Originality.ai, a US-based AI detection company, rated eight examined samples at 100% on their AI detection score, indicating high confidence the books were written by artificial intelligence.

Why this matters: Unregulated AI-authored health content poses significant risks to vulnerable readers seeking legitimate medical guidance.

• People with conditions like ADHD may make health decisions based on potentially harmful or scientifically unsound advice generated by AI systems that lack medical expertise.
• The proliferation of such content represents a growing pattern of AI-generated misinformation on Amazon, which has previously been found selling risky AI-authored travel guides and mushroom foraging books.

Expert assessment: Computer scientists and consumers have identified alarming content within these publications.

• Michael Cook, a computer science researcher at King’s College London, described finding AI-authored books on health topics as “frustrating and depressing,” noting that generative AI systems draw from both legitimate medical texts and “pseudoscience, conspiracy theories and fiction.”
• Cook emphasized that AI systems cannot critically analyze or reliably reproduce medical knowledge, making them unsuitable for addressing sensitive health topics without expert oversight.

Real-world impact: Readers seeking legitimate ADHD information have encountered disturbing content in these books.

• Richard Wordsworth, recently diagnosed with adult ADHD, found a book containing potentially harmful advice, including warnings that friends and family wouldn’t “forgive the emotional damage you inflict” and describing his condition as “catastrophic.”
• These negative and stigmatizing characterizations could worsen mental health outcomes for readers genuinely seeking help managing their condition.

Amazon’s response: The company acknowledges the issue but relies on existing systems rather than targeted intervention.

• A spokesperson stated that Amazon has content guidelines and methods to detect and remove books that violate these standards.
• However, the continued presence of these books suggests current safeguards may be insufficient for addressing the volume and sophistication of AI-generated health misinformation.