Reader discovers AI prompt in his recently-purchased travel book, realizes the whole book is a fraud: 'Absolutely worthless'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Aug 5, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Would you buy a book that was completely generated by AI?

It's getting tougher and tougher to know what's generated by AI and what isn't. Remember a world before all of this? You didn't have to think about whether or not something was completely fake? I miss that world. Now you have to look at everything with a critical eye. And if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. But what about literature? That is surely sacred, isn't it? It turns out it isn't, and anything can be faked. Even a book that you buy online. This might sound like an obvious truth at this point, but you don't think something is going to happen until it does. This person thought that they were buying a real book about a place they were planning to visit, but that turned out to not be the truth. False advertising is no joke, and we should call it out where we see it. If you think something is real, and then it turns out to be fake, you should get recompense for that. Nobody wants to read a book that was generated by a chatbot. You certainly wouldn't want to pay for the privilege, seeing as anyone could have done that. A bait-and-switch is not a good way to sell your wares, and if you're relying on that to get people to buy your stuff, then you should reconsider what you're doing. 

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  • 01

    Book I bought didn't edit out the Al prompt.

    will last a lifetime. Turn the pages, and let your adventure begin. If you want, I can now write the full first chapter of the guide "Welcome to Pitigliano"-in a way that pulls the reader in with vivid, modern, and practical insights for 2026. Do you want me to do that next? History Pitigliano, Jewish com southern Tus the Lente an that the area a Etruscan peri location offere settlers who ca the volcanic foundation for tunnels that defi During the Middl controlled by the noble families in value
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  • 02
    Absolutely worthless book. Didn't even remove the prompt in the introduction. The whole book, a travel guide, was generalities and no specifics. You could change the name and have it be any city anywhere.
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    WizardOfTheLawl name and shame
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  • 04
    LegoLady8 Pitigliano: The City of Stone and Sunlight 2026: A Complete Travel Guide to Pitigliano, Italy – Etruscan Legends, Caves, and Ancient Streets "Author": Gerald Baker
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  • 05
    PhycoPenguin Easy return. I'd fight this all the way up the ladder to reject this kind of crop
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  • 06
    jokingpokes This is a case to blast the book, publisher, writer, return it, and leave a bad review. Unacceptable.
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  • 07
    RektInTheHed "Julia was twenty-six years old... and she worked, as he had guessed, on the novel- writing machines in the Fiction Department. She enjoyed her work, which consisted chiefly in running. and servicing a powerful but tricky electric motor... She could describe the whole process of composing a novel, from the general
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  • 08
    directive issued by the Planning Committee down to the final touching-up by the Rewrite Squad. But she was not interested in the final product. She "didn't much care for reading," she said. Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces."
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  • 09
    Whines90 Beyond Mild, I would find a way to return it. I'm not paying someone money to Ai prompt read their
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  • 10
    absoluteunitofspite I'd immediately stop reading and return it. That's so absolutely insane.
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  • 11
    a_polarbear_chilling at that point every book post 2025 need to be checked by the editor entirely and if ai is allowed then put it in the adverstising (cover)
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  • 12
    Prestigious_Delay 573 Ugh, get your money back and then look for travel books made before all this ai nonsense started creeping in
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  • 13
    Okoear Pitigliano, however, is incredibly beautiful. City straight up built in the cliffs of Italy. Worth an image search.
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  • 14
    alphix_ So the era starts now where I buy a book because their publishing date is only up to the 2010s or something :/
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  • 15
    Dracoroth05 I am no lawyer but in my opinion writing a book and not telling customers that it was written by Al should be a serious crime.
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  • 16
    Enviritas Is this a nonfiction book on top of it? What kind of madman would do that with AI?
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  • 17
    everythingbeeps I'm basically going to just not consume any media created after 2022 or so. Sorry new authors and new musicians. You were too late.
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  • 18
    MrPanda663 I always thought it was tough to write a book. Now that people are using Al. I might take a crack at it because I don't need Al to write stories.
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  • 19
    boardme This is obviously terrible. But I also desperately want to know how anyone would ever unwittingly purchase an Al book. How little vetting are you doing on what you're reading?
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    armeler06 I wonder if you can sue the book for this. Technically the writer isnt the person that says so on the book, but rather, an ai chatbot
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  • We should hold people who perpetuate scams accountable. In this age of AI, it's easier to rip people off than ever. Sure, as a consumer, you need to have some amount of tact to be able to sift through all the nonsense, but trusted websites shouldn't be peddling nonsense in the first place. When this person shared the story of their encounter with an AI purchase, commenters quickly came in with outrage on their behalf. Keep reading to see this story and how it unfolded.

  • 21
    A woman looks at a book in her lap, confused
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova For Unsplash+

    Subjects are models.

    A woman looks at a book in her lap, confused

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