Thanksgiving last year, after GPT-4 was released, I realized large language models were finally good enough to bring my idea to life: an AI book generator. Over the holiday weekend, I built the prototype for https://instabooks.ai, to allow anyone to instantly generate 200+ page books on any topic. I sell them in pdf, epub and print form and they take about 30 minutes to complete.
Since launch, over 10,000 books have been generated on topics ranging from niche hobbies to advanced research. The system runs almost entirely on its own, requiring only occasional updates and customer support. The best part of it: as new LLM models come out, the books get better written as well, so each year it improves without much effort on my end.
What LLM are you currently using? And how do you prevent against hallucinations/drift when generating content of this length? Do you start by asking the model to generate an outline of a book, and then have it expand on each chapter with more detail? Awesome project
Currently using GTP-4o combined with Perplexity API context infusion for real-time knowledge (this also reduces hallucination for the most part). And yes, starting with outline and then writing chapter by chapter while doing real time research. After initial completion there’s another editing round to make everything more coherent.
I am a little unsure of how it works, but it is very intriguing. Can I order a book on Writing Effective HN Comments from you? Who would be listed as its author? If I wanted to be the author, would I have to pay you? Is there an option not to have the book listed on your page? Do you have an FAQ? : - )
Yes, I do offer a premium “Becoming the Author” option that allows you to publish the book under your own name, with full copyright, and the book will be taken offline from the website.
Why wouldn't you buy a real book written by a real person who actually knows what they're talking about and is less likely to have hallucinated it all?
Since launch, over 10,000 books have been generated on topics ranging from niche hobbies to advanced research. The system runs almost entirely on its own, requiring only occasional updates and customer support. The best part of it: as new LLM models come out, the books get better written as well, so each year it improves without much effort on my end.