Publisher Apologizes for Undisclosed AI-Generated Images in Photography Book
A Chinese publisher issued an apology after readers discovered that a portrait photography instructional book contained approximately 75 AI-generated images out of 159 total images, roughly 50%, many with anatomical errors such as six-fingered hands. The publisher acknowledged the author did not disclose the use of AI generation and that review processes failed to detect the images.
What happened
Readers discovered that a portrait photography instructional book titled《人像摄影口袋书》contained approximately 75 AI-generated images out of 159 instructional images, approximately 50 percent.
The AI-generated images contained multiple typical failures: blurred facial details, hard light transitions, and anatomical errors including six-fingered hands, six-toed feet, and twisted limb postures.
The publisher 人民邮电出版社 responded that the author did not disclose AI generation when submitting the manuscript and the publisher's review process failed to identify the AI-generated content.
Reported impact
Consumers expected instructional photography materials created by human authors to teach accurate photographic technique and lighting principles, but instead received AI-generated images with fundamental anatomical and optical errors.
The publisher offered unconditional refunds and withdrew the book from multiple e-commerce platforms.
Index analysis
The book was published on November 1, 2025, after the September 1, 2025 implementation of the《人工智能生成合成内容标识办法》regulation requiring AI-generated images to bear visible labels, but carried no such labels.
Governance controls
Legal experts noted that publishers bear responsibility as the first line of quality control and must disclose use of AI-generated content under consumer protection law.
The regulation requires both visible labels printed on covers or images and embedded digital watermarks as invisible labels for AI-generated content.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.