As reported by CNBC and a sharp marketer who monitors the world’s largest online retailer for a living, Amazon is testing the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to summarize some product reviews. Generative AI uses technology to produce content such as text, graphics, audio, and video.

The summaries, which include a disclaimer that Amazon is using AI to create them, pull from user reviews to share what customers do and don’t like about products. (See an example of a review here.)

In theory, they save discerning shoppers time scrolling through reviews for key product features and issues.

Amazon hasn’t officially announced that it’s summarizing product reviews with AI, but it confirmed the news when asked by CNBC.

Will Amazon roll this out to reader reviews?

You might be wondering if and when this will apply to reader reviews and the impact it might have on reviews and book sales.

Nobody knows for certain, but we can make educated guesses.

“Amazon is always testing what converts better on their product pages. If they find that the AI-generated review summaries convert well on laundry machines, then they’ll likely roll it out for books as well,” says Bryan Cohen, author and CEO of Best Page Forward.

Dave Chesson, founder of Kindlepreneur, a top marketing resource for authors, agrees. “I think it makes sense to do it considering that when looking at the reviews of the book, as a shopper, it requires a lot of time to sift through the reviews and find one with legitimate, constructive feedback on the book,” he says.

Impact summarizing product reviews with AI might have on books

Authors engaged in the ongoing struggle to generate reader reviews might be concerned that AI-generated summaries will discourage reviewers. Amazon is probably tracking review trends as part of the test, too.

Once readers realize that too-brief reviews – “Loved it” or “Hated it” – don’t contribute to meaningful summaries, they might get more specific.

Chesson has a concern about AI incorporating those too-brief reviews into summaries, too.

“If they develop the system where it compiles the good and the bad to create two paragraphs, I worry what will happen when the feedback isn’t well-thought-out.

“For example, I’ve seen negative reviews in the past where the reviewer will say something about how they haven’t read the book and then proceed to give an opinion. Or, perhaps there aren’t many negative reviews and so the system reaches and gives full discussions on things that aren’t really a thing,” he says.

Stephanie Chandler, founder and CEO of the Nonfiction Authors Association, shares his concern, adding, “While they haven’t yet mastered how to distinguish between poor product reviews and positive ones, surely they will figure out how to separate these details based on the starred reviews,” she says.

Encouraging readers to write more helpful reviews

Chandler believes authors can get ahead of this by encouraging readers to write more meaningful reviews.

“As authors we may need to ask reviewers to get more specific with their feedback so that AI-generated review summaries are reflective of the content of the books,” she adds.

Even so, Cohen wonders if readers will be disappointed by the new review experience if it rolls out to all product categories.

“If these changes all come to pass, the next question will be how book reviewers will react to their words being summarized and then passed over,” he notes.

Upsides to summarizing product reviews with AI

Any flaws in the process will likely be eliminated by the time book reviews are summarized. When it happens, it’s possible the AI-generated summaries will help readers make quicker decisions about what to read next.

“If the AI system can help piece this together, which I think it can, this will create a much better shopping experience,” Chesson says.

A better customer experience can lead to higher sales for books that readers review favorably, too.

“If the AI summaries help get a higher percentage of readers to buy, then both Amazon and the authors who publish there will be very happy,” adds Cohen.

Want to help readers write more meaningful reviews now? Download the Build Book Buzz Reader Book Review Forms now. There’s one for fiction; another for nonfiction. They encourage reviews by taking the mystery out of the process for your fans. Learn more at https://buildbookbuzz.com/reader-book-review-form/

Do you think review summaries will help readers make better-informed decisions about what to buy and read? Why or why not? Please tell us in a comment.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra charge to you).

You’ve probably heard lots of chatter about artificial intelligence (AI) writing tools recently. ChatGPT from OpenAI is getting the most attention, and not all of it is good.

Users have documented problems that include capacity issues (you can’t always use it when you need to) and inaccurate information. Inaccuracy isn’t unique to this resource, though – it’s something to watch out for with all AI tools.

People are also concerned about bias picked up from information fed into the system and copyright issues.

QuickWrite and copyright

As a writer, I worry about copyright violations, too. So, before I started using and recommending QuickWrite, an AI tool created specifically for authors, I asked C.J. McDaniel, the tool’s creator, about copyright and plagiarism issues.

Here’s what he told me:

“First, the content being generated is original, and the algorithms & AI do not copy information. They generate responses to your queries. Our AI engine has been trained on billions of words of content to give it its wealth of context and knowledge and to train it in how humans communicate. So the information you receive back will be original to you; even if someone else gave it the exact same information, they would still get different results.

“But taking that a step further, some of the things you can do to make sure that someone else doesn’t have the same content are the things that I believe we authors already naturally do. This includes things like making sure we give it original commands and then do edits or add expertise, knowledge, or creativity to further flesh out what is given.

“QuickWrite comes up super clean on all the plagiarism checkers we have tested and anything we have seen is always common phrases that authors would use anyway. On our plagiarism checks, we haven’t seen anything come even close to that 25% duplicate content that Google uses as its standard for duplicate content.”

My QuickWrite review starts with firsthand experience

With my copyright question out of the way, I first used QuickWrite to help me write a blog post on how to use YouTube for book marketing. Here’s the process I followed:

1. I asked it to generate book marketing blog post topics.
2. After making a selection, I asked it to outline the article.
3. I then asked it to write each section of the outline, one section at a time (because that’s how the tool works).
4. As I worked, I copied and pasted each section into the text editing box until I had an AI-generated draft.

It would have taken me several hours to write that draft. QuickWrite produced it in about 15 minutes.

I spent time removing repetitious content, editing the text so it was more my style and less generic, and adding my stories and anecdotes.

But wow – this was a timesaver! That’s just one reason I wanted to write this QuickWrite review for you.

QuickWrite is a writer’s assistant

Think of QuickWrite as a writer’s assistant, not as a writer that replaces you. You wouldn’t use it to write a book (um, right?). But you can use it to brainstorm titles and character names, write book descriptions, and even write the email announcing your book.

via GIPHY

Artificial intelligence tools give you a starting point, not a finished product.

Completing an AI-developed project involves fact-checking nonfiction details, too. My bio is a good example of that. My QuickWrite-generated bio wasn’t accurate and neither was ChatGPT’s.

The lesson here? Write your own bio! (And do some fact-checking.)

QuickWrite was created for authors

The genius of QuickWrite is that C.J. McDaniel (the whiz behind MockupShots) created it specifically for authors. You won’t be tempted to waste time asking the software to solve math problems, write code, or find recipes.

And to make it as easy as possible to use, there are separate “task” sections for fiction and nonfiction and another for marketing-type writing.

You get access to all of it, making it especially useful to authors who write both fiction and nonfiction.

What can it do for you?

Save hours and hours of time with your creative process by using QuickWrite to:

• Develop well-rounded characters with backstories
• Master world-building that complements your storyline in seconds
• Get original scenarios that provide multiple options so you can create better stories
• Reduce research time with access to a vast pool of data and ideas for key elements and items for your book
• Craft a compelling email with the click of a button
• Create a nonfiction book title
• Write sales copy for your book with ease
• Create social media content for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn articles
• Generate genre-specific blog content you can use to get traffic to your website or blog
• Create images
• Translate text (but I haven’t tested this)

Watch our videos to see how it works

After using this for the first time late last year, I created a short demo video to show authors what it can do, and how easy it is to use. (Note that it’s not a QuickWrite review — it’s a how-to demonstration.)

There are demo videos on the product sales pages, too. They’re more in-depth than mine, so be sure to watch them. You can get to the fiction demo here and the nonfiction video here.

Speaking of videos, I’ve been able to figure out how to do most tasks, but when I’ve been stumped, I’ve turned to the training videos in my QuickWrite account. That instant help makes a difference

Authors love QuickWrite

I love this tool – but don’t take my word for it.

I’ve received several testimonials from authors who purchased it on my recommendation. One told me:

“One particularly good aspect I found is generating character names. It saves trawling phone directories or googling to find suitable names for characters, and it appears to do it for any country. As I get used to it, I’m sure I’ll find a lot more to assist me. Thanks for introducing me to this software.”

And here’s another:

“Just wanted to THANK YOU for this QuickWrite info….. I’m stunned at how fabulous it is… actually makes me giggle out loud at how fast AI can come with plots, descriptions, etc. that would have taken me hours. Maybe days. Or even NEVER have thought of! Brilliant.”

No waiting

I especially appreciate that I have unlimited access to the tool – there are no restrictions. I’ve had to wait to use ChatGPT a few times and while that’s not the biggest problem in my life, it makes a big difference for me to have my tools available when I need them.

And, while you can’t try it before buying, you get a 30-day, money-back guarantee. That means you risk nothing when you purchase and try it.

Get special pricing

To use most AI tools like this, you have to buy “credits” to generate content. With my QuickWrite affiliate link, though, you can get lifetime, unlimited access for a one-time fee of $197 until June 16.

On that date, the price with my affiliate link increases to $297, which is still a better deal than what you’ll pay without my link.

Anyone without an affililate link pays either $49.99/month or $497 for lifetime access.

Not for purists

Obviously, I’m an enthusiastic user. And my QuickWrite review is an honest one. It’s a good fit for me, but whether you can benefit from its power depends in part on how you like to create and write.

One author told me that she is a purist who would be uncomfortable using a tool like this as part of her creative process. Others appreciate its ability to do certain writerly tasks frees them up to be even more creative with their writing.

I’m old-school with certain things, too, but I’m also a fan of anything affordable that does a good job of saving me time. This is one of them.

Ask me questions about my QuickWrite review!

What have I missed in this QuickWrite review? If I haven’t answered all of your questions, please ask them here or in an email.  If I can’t answer them, I’ll turn to someone who can.

Which AI tools have you tried? Do you like them? Please tell us in a comment.