zoraniko
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Jul 24, 2026 10:24 PM
zoraniko
23479
522
6
CedricDur
LLM reviews.
cheeriossuckbecause7
Human ticks.
iamthemurray
Cold calling an author like that. https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1b2FwOGZxOWo0bG1sNWE5dXd0ZGZlbG1pMmR2b2NmanJmejBxeWJvNyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/65os7odbIW6pa/200w.webp
JamesFaction
The time wasted even skimming thru that "review" to find it's total slop infuriates me
LibrarianOfThunder
If you self publish this happens daily
lujotu
Ugh that is just awful.
DeValere
I hate those reviews. I paid someone for promoting to get the book out there and got 2 5 star reviews... What kind of review is that? My writing is absolutely not 5 stars and I know there are at LEAST a trillion issues with it.
SaltyAndBitter
Seeing how generic it is, I wouldn't be surprised if the template was just copied and pasted while changing the names. Or AI, as it was likely way easier to tell in late 2024.
InboxMeYourHDGIFs
That review was written by an ai anyway
thedarklord187
Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the supposed person doing the review is ai themselves
AsheLake
The ~5 hour gap in texts makes me think it's a real person, though they probably had an LLM write that first text too. I figure most people who run lazy scams like this aren't clever enough to work out how to robo-text authors.
Metadonmixer
Looks to me it's more of a template they just spew out en masse...
Androidery
Isn't it against Amazon policy to review if you've been paid or gotten the item free? I have a hobby blog and review items and make sure I never post to Amazon
ItispronouncedGIFwithahardG
It is definitely not against amazon policy to review if you got the item for free. But they will actually mark that the item was received for free, or encourage such reviewers to mention it.
Androidery
Weird... My account always mentioned that I'd be flagged or something.. turned down so many opportunities
OkButWhyWereTheyFilming
When they say "actually it's a paid review" they mean the author is supposed to pay for the review right
WerewolfUK87
Yeah. It's basically "Pay me and I'll write nice things about your book, or don't pay me and I'll leave a bad review."
eronth
I presume so, but idk why anyone would?
zylokun
It's extortion. The threat is either pay for the review or get review bombed and die on the market crash
CobainsSarcoma
it boosts the metric for higher ratings aka avg 'stars'
supervillin
Some platforms use review count/rating/"speed" (how many reviews you get soon after launch) to boost how much they show your book to other people, so getting reviews can get indirectly more sales via algorithm bullshit.
RubyPorto
VPNs are only a couple bucks though...
aahsesebes
anytime you see the — its a dead giveaway that it was AI. nobody uses em-dashes.
gronzilla
I always did. Tho I stopped now
Babomonkey
The entire reason LLMs use them so much is because they were trained on text that uses them. In other words, loads of writers use em dashes.
tbmchristopher
I use them in my writing, but there's no way I'd go to the effort to use them in an Amazon review or a comment box
IAmASentientWaffle
It's no effort if you have your keyboard set up appropriately.
supervillin
If nobody used em dashes, then AI wouldn't have learned to use em dashes. It just takes them to the extreme like its other tells.
Clayman8
For me its that and emojis. I dont think ive ever seen an honest review that had emojis in it
znuff
I use thumb down sometimes when it's really bad.
SleazyBijou
I use em-dashes all the time — instead of semicolons! Bwahaha
newsguycraigevans
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1cWhrNHE5bTVtZ3NjMm9ldnA4N3N1M2tiZTQxMnpzczMyZXJpbTBsciZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/1bcKciQetU2vC/200w.webp
MirroredImage
Sadly, I've been waiting to be accused of AI use for a while, since I like em dashes and semicolons both. A classmate of mine mentioned towards the start of the year that in her prior classes, she'd had to download a keylogger to prove her essays were her own work for the same reason, and she would have been in serious trouble otherwise.
AI is still trained on people. I question if it has tics like the semi-neurodivergent penchant for bullet points because that's how people talk online
HiddenSanity
My friend does a lot of copy writing/product descriptions, business blurbs and summaries, and maintained a few blogs/newsletters for corporations, aka, likely a LOT of his stuff was fed in as training data, and is so mad that AI has made a lot his work look like AI by copying his slightly detached neutral style with professional grammar, including proper em-dash use.
eronth
I do. I used to copy-paste them whenever I wanted it, now I have my keyboard input updated to be able to use em/en dashes.
randombrain
Windows Alt+0151, Mac Shift-Opt-Dash
eronth
Yeah for whatever reason I can never seem to remember alt codes long term. I just set up my key that already does - and _ to also do – and —.
diemajorthrilldie
It's not just an emdash -- it's slop.
InboxMeYourHDGIFs
Here ya go —
gronzilla
What if I told you I see what you did there.
diemajorthrilldie
You make a very compelling point. It is a very deep observation and it's easy to see why someone would enjoy this comment.
diemajorthrilldie
I don't often feel guilt, filth or remorse but by god typing that gave me all three....
ExceptFluffyDuck
Three comments, one conclusion.
gronzilla
MrSwissroll
I can smell the AI in that "review" from here...
kInADress
📚
fknbastard
Yeah it’s totally generic and could be about any book.
snova595
Real people don’t use emojis like that, definitely AI slop
rezpawner
It's not just a review — it's an experience.
zoraniko
It’s not just a review—it’s bullshit.
Tjitso
Yeah, but it's paid, so it's also a waste of money
FTUG
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1aHlnenQzMXE1bXpnenNkeW1nb3luOWNyNDM4NWNmMDMzbzYxbTdtMiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/02wG5BTr5psMjqjrfd/200w.webp
captapathy
Its why i read the one star reviews. If the reviews are coherent and well reasoned, i tend to listen to them. If the reviews are poorly spelled with few words, or contain the word ‘woke’ i’m probably on the right track to a decent book.
HelpfulCorn
I only write reviews for books I don't like, to warn off others
DrBlackJack
I'm kinda proud of the number of comments and reviews I've gotten calling my stuff "feminist propaganda" despite the fact I wouldn't call my stories any more feminist than, say, the movie "Aliens".
Evenmoreuselessname
I dunno, a lot of 1 star reviews are just dumb shit like "arrived in a smashed box and didn't work, company offered to ship a replacement but I am just. too. mad." I usually go for the 2-4 star reviews.
captapathy
Well obviously i ignore those.
ServerMonkeyKing
1 star review for kindle book: arrived in smashed box.
aducksayswhat
I've begun to find it interesting the amount of communities where I find negative opinions or as you said certain points/keywords coming up on something are an indicator I'll probably like the thing, and I don't think I'm a massive contrarian.
captapathy
I mean, i’ve seen a 5 star review for a John Ringo book, for godssake
Rogahar
If his middle names aren't 'George Paul', his parents fucked up.
Wolfshead009
Don't know about that, but he is a fucked up piece of shit.
zoraniko
Ha, my brother told me he always filters out five star reviews and only reads 4 and below because “nothing is ever perfect.”
chewmaca2
I prefer that if I were to give 5 stars I'd either give a one letter review if I thoroughly enjoyed something or if I am really excited for whatever I ordered I'll leave some completed random gibberish of glee.
chencking
That's silly. 3* is a bad rating so 4* or 5* are the only real options for stuff you liked. It doesn't mean perfect; it just means you liked it more than that other stuff you liked.
AsheLake
People who give 5 star reviews aren't likely to tell you anything useful. 4 and below usually have some degree of criticism. By reading that criticism, you can see if the commonly cited problems are relevant to your intended uses for the product. If all the complaints are irrelevant, it's probably a good fit for you. If the complaints are things that bother you, look for something else.
poochyena
Thats dumb. Most things I buy on amazon perfectly meet my expectations.
IHateTransphobes
Funny, my expectations for amazon are electrically/medically dangerous, poorly made, and/or counterfeit. Basically Ali Express with a markup.
Malak224
I only buy five star used Fleshlights.
WarlockSniper
Well, they cleared that extremely low bar...
Rogahar
Fair, but an overwhelming amount of 5-star reviews on Amazon and sites like it are either faked by the seller using bot accounts, or 'paid for' by adding gifts to every order with a 'please rate us 5 stars on amazon pretty please!!!! 🥺' note.
Agouti
The gift for 5 star rating is against their ToS, I believe they can be punished for it if you report it
Rogahar
And if they actually suffer any consequences they'll just be back a week later under a new keyboardmash 'brand name' with the exact same products.
Selfawerewolf
I think we're talking about books here friend.
poochyena
thought OP was talking about amazon reviews in general.