Books marketed to people with ADHD on Amazon’s marketplace appear to be written by artificial intelligence rather than human experts, potentially providing harmful misinformation to vulnerable readers, according to recent findings.
Several titles claiming to offer guidance for managing ADHD, particularly targeting men with adult diagnoses, have scored 100% on AI detection software run by Originality.ai, indicating they were likely produced by chatbots rather than qualified medical professionals or researchers.
Michael Cook, a computer science researcher at King’s College London, described the situation as “frustrating and depressing,” noting that AI systems like ChatGPT mix legitimate medical information with “pseudoscience, conspiracy theories and fiction” without proper critical analysis.
“Generative AI systems are known to give dangerous advice,” Cook explained, highlighting concerns about potential harm from inaccurate health recommendations or misdiagnosis.
Richard Wordsworth, recently diagnosed with adult ADHD, discovered these issues firsthand when his father recommended an Amazon book found through a simple search. Wordsworth immediately noticed strange content, including random anecdotes, historical inaccuracies, and potentially harmful advice claiming ADHD sufferers inflict “emotional damage” that leaves “lasting scars” on friends and family.
Further investigation revealed other concerning elements—the author’s AI-generated headshot, absence of professional qualifications, and alarming claims in similar books that his condition was “catastrophic” and would lead to premature death.
This issue extends beyond ADHD resources, as Amazon’s marketplace has been flooded with AI-generated books across various subjects, including travel guides and mushroom foraging manuals that reportedly encourage dangerous practices.
When contacted, an Amazon spokesperson stated: “We have content guidelines governing which books can be listed for sale and we have proactive and reactive methods that help us detect content that violates our guidelines, whether AI-generated or not.”