Dennis Altman's bizarre encounters with AI scam book promoters

Dennis Altman, the acclaimed gay activist and author of 17+ books, shares his surreal experience of being inundated with flattery and invitations from AI-generated promoters claiming to champion his work. What began as a flattering wave of praise from fictional literary figures like Patrick Suskin and Annie O'Neill—complete with eloquent blurbs and elaborate book launch proposals—quickly revealed its artificial nature when Altman tested the messages with a simple German-language challenge. He exposes the growing scam: AI systems mining public data, crafting hyper-personalized, publisher-style blurbs, and offering fake book club appearances, republishing deals, and website creation services—all with a subtle request for payment. Though the messages are eerily convincing, Altman’s skepticism, honed by prior awareness of AI’s capabilities, allows him to spot red flags like Gmail addresses for publishing houses and requests for administrative fees. He warns that even seasoned authors are vulnerable to emotional manipulation, especially when desperate for visibility. The episode ends with a darkly humorous irony: the most heartfelt message of all—sent to Altman—was likely AI-generated, and he’s happy to let people believe it was genuine.