CHATGPT has been subject to massive experiments since its launch. Continuing this streak of tinkering, a science fiction author used the world's favourite AI tool (and a few others) to pen down and add visuals to near about 100 books that are fetching him monetary returns.
According to a report by New York Post, Tim Boucher deployed these emerging AI tools to publish 97 "mini-novels" in under one year (9 months, to be precise). His goal was to create "unique, captivating ebooks" that tie dystopian sci-fi with AI-generated works, in an authored article in Newsweek, Boucher explains.
About these books
He calls them "AI Lore books" that act as evidence of the possibilities of AI. The word limit of these books ranges from 2,000-5,000 words, bundled with anywhere between 40 to 140 AI-generated visuals. He adds that one volume takes him around six to eight hours. The author started using AI in his endeavour in August 2022.
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What tool did he use?
The writer adds he used tools such as Midjourney for image creation, ChatGPT and Claude (Anthropic's AI assistant) for text generation.
The catalogue of books "cross-reference" each other. As a result, a reader is hooked to read one book after the other. This also brings him repeat customers.
How much did he earn?
In the report, Boucher adds that he managed to sell 574 books in exchange for $2,000 (1.6 lakh) till May.
The price of one book ranges from $1.99 (around Rs 165) to $3.99 (Rs 330). He sold these books on Gumroad, an e-commerce platform.
He credits the success of the books to "interconnected narratives" in books that arouse curiosity in the readers. Several buyers have reached out to shop for more versions (anywhere from six6 to ten) in a single window. "AI has proven to be a remarkable catalyst for my creative work," he writes.
After taking inputs from AI, the author adds his personal touch to bring the novels to life. It is among the examples of how AI can augment workflow rather than replace jobs. However, it has a set of limitations too.