Many writers see ChatGPT as a thorn in their side. Because the AI learns from texts that are illegally downloaded from the internet – at least that is the accusation.
AI programs like ChatGPT have quickly found their way into the daily lives of many people. Whether you want to summarize something, have an alternative to googling, or simply joke around and exchange messages with chatbots – there are many possibilities. However, some are quite upset about what OpenAI uses to make ChatGPT better and better.
As PCGamer reports, a group of 17 prominent authors, including George R. R. Martin (“A Song of Ice and Fire” or “Game of Thrones”), has now filed a lawsuit against OpenAI. The accusation: ChatGPT uses the authors’ stories for learning.
Is there any truth to this? That ChatGPT, for example, knows the books of George R. R. Martin is virtually undisputed. Until recently, ChatGPT could still quote whole passages from the “Game of Thrones” books. According to the indictment, ChatGPT can still provide summaries of the books that go far beyond what one can read in official book summaries – for it knows details that one can only know if one has read the entire book.
The accusation is, therefore, that OpenAI uses texts that are published on piracy websites – such as complete books by well-known authors. Therefore, “The Authors Guild” is now suing:
This case is just the beginning of our fight to protect authors from theft by OpenAI and other generative AI. As the oldest and largest organization of writers, with almost 14,000 members, the “Authors Guild” is in a unique position to advocate for the rights of authors. Our membership is diverse and passionate. Our staff, which also includes a large legal department, has expertise in copyright law. We want to say only this: We are not bringing this indictment lightly. We are here to fight.
What do the authors want to achieve? The authors are not looking to bring the development of ChatGPT or other AIs to a halt. Instead, they want writers and authors to have to give their consent if their stories are to be used to train such AI bots. If consent is granted, there must be appropriate compensation for the use.
In a statement from the Authors Guild, it states that “generative AI threatens to destroy the profession of authors.” A lawsuit has been filed due to the “profound injustice and danger arising from the use of copyrighted books to train commercial AI without permission or payment.”
The CEO of the Authors Guild, Mary Rasenberger, further stated:
Great books are mostly written by those who spend their entire career and often their whole life improving their craft. To protect our literature, authors must have the ability to control whether and how their works are used by generative AI. The various GPT models and other current generative AIs can only create material that is a derivative of what came before. They copy sentence structure, voice, storytelling, and context from books and other incorporated texts. The results are just remixes without the influence of human creation. Regurgitated culture is no substitute for human art.
That ChatGPT and other similar text AIs pose a threat or at least a problem for writers is beyond question. A while ago, someone had even tried to create the next two volumes (Part 6 and 7) of “A Song of Ice and Fire” with ChatGPT (via winteriscoming.net) – and was even quite successful with it.
What is your opinion on this matter? A justifiable reason and a good thing? Or are the writers just being “greedy” here?
