The incident has highlighted the growing concerns among authors about the use of AI tools in the publishing industry. Many authors have found their work used to train AI models without their consent, leading to a frustrating game of whac-a-mole. The technology behind self-publishing and generative AI has also led to an increase in low-quality, AI-generated books on platforms like Amazon, causing further frustration and concerns among authors.
Key takeaways:
- Prosecraft, a project by Shaxpir, compiled over 27,000 books into a dataset without the authors' consent, leading to backlash from authors including Maureen Johnson and Celeste Ng.
- After the backlash, Prosecraft creator Benji Smith took down the website and defended his actions, stating he believed he was honoring the Fair Use doctrine.
- Authors are increasingly frustrated with the proliferation of AI tools using their work without consent, creating a game of whac-a-mole as they opt out of one database only to find their work used in another.
- Generative AI and self-publishing technology have led to a rise in low-quality, AI-generated books on platforms like Amazon, leading to concerns about inadvertent plagiarism and impersonation of authors.