James F. Gauss
May 1, 2026
Sixteen years ago, as a diversion from my more serious non-fiction writing, I decided to write a fictional account of a boy growing up in Muncie, Indiana. I have never been to Muncie, nor is the character based on any real-life person.
It was self-published through Create Space, now Amazon’s KDP outlet for self-publishers. For the cover, I provided the photograph and used Amazon’s “cover creator” software to create the original cover on the left.
The description of the book on the back cover read, in part:
He was orphaned, homeless and hardened toward life, could anyone or anything turn him toward town?
The life story of Hoppy, a troubled and lonely young boy growing up in Muncie, Indiana in the 1950s and ’60s. While in a boy’s reformatory at age nine for one too many thefts, his mother succumbs to cancer on his tenth birthday. With the whereabouts of his father unknown and no relatives, he is sent to an orphanage. . ..
With the advent of A.I., I decided to see what ChatGPT could do to improve on the cover and book description. I presented my criteria for the image, context and cover text. It took about 15 tries refining the results until the cover on the right was developed.
Along the way, the back cover text was developed and now reads:
Abandoned—but never forgotten.
In a world that moved on without him, one boy must find his way forward.
Hop-A-Long is a powerful Christian story of hardship, resilience, and redemption. Set against the backdrop of a changing America, it follows a young boy’s journey from abandonment to purpose—where faith, not circumstance, will define his future.
This moving story reminds us that no life is unseen, and no soul is beyond hope.
A story of faith, survival, and grace.
So far, so good. I was pleased, so I uploaded the cover change on Amazon’s KDP and in a day the change was made.
Yesterday, I decided to Google the title to see how it looked and the first thing to appear was an A.I. link with this book summary”
Hop-A-Long: Abandoned but not forgotten by James F. Gauss is a memoir about the author’s difficult childhood in the 1950s and 60s, detailing his experiences with juvenile delinquency, reform school, and life on the streets, all while exploring themes of faith and redemption. The book follows the life of “Hoppy,” a troubled boy in Muncie, Indiana, who faces abandonment, crime, and near-death experiences, ultimately finding a path toward faith.
Interesting! I can assure you that this book is in no way close to a memoir, nor does it draw upon any of my life experiences. If you ask my wife, she will tell you that my childhood bordered on idyllic. It did not, but certainly nothing like my imagined character. Also interesting, when I clicked on the A.I. link where the information was gleaned, it linked back to Amazon and the correct book description.
This little, somewhat disturbing experience, made me realize how easy it would be for a nefarious person or persons to develop a great pool of misleading, false information in a political campaign or in the world of diplomacy during critical conflicts or negotiations. Clearly, we are in uncharted waters and potentially dangerous times with this new technology that most of us do not understand.
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