War of Words: Uniting Authors Against Generative AI
Hundreds of millions of literary works are used by generative artificial intelligence systems to train their algorithms and produce content. Many authors hold this technique in extremely low regard. For their contributions to the creation of these technologies, some of them are now demanding compensation. Over 8,000 writers, including Margaret Atwood and James Patterson, complain in an open letter that “millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry provide the ‘food’ for AI systems, endless meals for which there has been no bill.” They want Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and Satya Nadella—three of the leading figures in artificial intelligence—to restrict the “damage” that generative AI algorithms may do to an already precarious industry.
In a statement posted on the Action Network website, the signatories explain their worries, warning that “generative AI threatens to damage our profession by flooding the market with mediocre, machine-written books, stories, and journalism based on our work.” Writing professionals thus find themselves without access to several crucial sources of revenue. In the last ten years, according to the Authors Guild, the oldest and biggest professional organization for authors on the American continent, their income has decreased by 40%.
The authors of the open letter contend that the development of these technologies poses a threat to making it “even more difficult, if not impossible, for writers — especially young writers and voices from under-represented communities — to earn a living from their profession.” Although this decline is not directly related to generative artificial intelligence, they claim that it is a factor nonetheless. They are urging businesses engaged in the development of AI to do this by getting the formal approval of writers whose works are used to train algorithms, recognizing their authorship, and providing them with monetary recompense.
Some of the most renowned authors in the world have signed the document, including Viet Thanh Nguyen, the Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, and Dan Brown, the best-selling author of the “Da Vinci Code,” as well as Suzanne Collins, the author of the “Hunger Games” series of books. On the list are writers Louise Erdrich, Paul Tremblay, and novelists Jodi Picoult, Nora Roberts, and Jennifer Egan in addition to American author and screenwriter Michael Chabon.
This open letter’s release coincides with a challenging period for AI businesses, as some of them are being sued for violating intellectual property rights. According to the Guardian, some of these allegations have been made against OpenAI and Google, including a lawsuit brought by authors Mona Awad and Paul Tremblay. Since AI businesses depend on the American concept of “fair use” to defend the collection of millions of texts, the fate of these procedures is still up in the air. But it seems like things are changing for AI.
