A couple of writers have contacted me about a book award supposedly using AI to pick winners. It can be found here: Book Awards for Authors That Are Actually Honest — BookyAwards, and they do charge an entry fee. They have six judges that supposed have backgrounds and a marvelous portrait…but all six judges are totally AI. Is this for real, so to speak?
I don’t see how it could possibly be legit. From their site:
As near as I can tell, every book gets an award, you just have to pay for it.
And, from “how it works”:
There is some wiggle room that a book might not qualify, but by all signs it’s a case of “you get what you pay for.”
Edit: oh, man, and check out their page about their judges. It makes my skin crawl.
Now there’s a good contest! See who can submit a book so bad they actually refuse to give you an award. The prize is you get your money back!
Is there anything online about this particular “award” that isn’t from their own website? I can’t seem to find anything about them.
The only mentions I can find are from people bragging about winning one, which is deeply pitiful.
Sounds like a scam. And it won’t be well judged.
Oh my God, they actually gave the “judges” AI slop pictures and fake names. Holy fuck.
I’m actually temped to submit two books. One will be one of my actual novels, and the other will be something I get an AI to write, which I’ll ensure will be fucking awful.
Still need some independent confirmation. New authors are (by nature) mostly largely trustful when others seeming in an authoritative position tell said authors that are the bees knees.
Sounds like an updated version of paying to get into Who’s Who.
The quotes from them are especially painful. I laughed that the first judge has a nickname. Who calls her that? The other AI judges?
The Writer Beware site that was spawned by science fiction writers has always made a point that any contest that charges an entry fee is probably a scam.
I checked Amazon and the six judges had a total of one self-published novel.
Run.
Who sponsors this shit, FIFA?
Why? You can’t find any independent confirmation that it’s legit. If you can’t find confirmation, how do you expect anyone else to? Our Google skillz are the same as yours.
Considering that everyone considers AI generated material to be crappy at best and incomprehensible at worst, do you really want AI to evaluate the work into which you’ve poured your heart, soul and time?
And what could be worse than to have AI tell you your work is so bad it’s refunding your entry fee?
There are legitimate book awards that charge an entry fee, just as there are legitimate publication opportunities and contests for poems, stories, and essays that have a fee. There are many that aren’t kosher. I suggest checking with an entity like Authors Guild with your question. I myself have a 
response to AI “judges.”
FWIW, the mailing address on their website is a Staples store.
No, more likely sponsored by the orange-hued recipient of the FIFA Peace Prize, who has his tiny hands in so many different scams that it’s hard to keep track.
I just asked Copilot whether it was legit…and this thread was the primary info source.
It’s at least as legit as "Who’s Who Among American High School Students:
I assume they don’t say “We’ll make you an award or your money back” on their page like the “Booky Awards” do:
No award we’d be embarrassed to publish. Refund if our judges can’t find one to stand behind.