AI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They're Free of AI Slop
12 experts across 3 network communities independently surfaced this.
“Hey folks, do we actually have solid information about the types of books being destroyed? A few people who sell rare or old books have voiced concerns after getting orders for lots of books. But the evidence that these may be rare books seems thin. www.404…” evidence ↗
Concern & critique
2 expertsRisks, limits and unintended consequences.
“It is ill-gotten gains being used to exploit legal loopholes and subsume culture, all protected from public criticism by NDAs. This should not be legal, and it is a travesty that it is going unpunished. www.404media.co/ai-companies... /end”
Research & technical analysis
2 expertsEvidence, methods and technical implications.
“companies are sourcing millions of printed books for AI labs that scan them for training data, then destroy them. printed books are more valuable because they're free of AI slop, and AI labs know destroying them is an "optics problem." www.404media.co/ai-co…”
Policy & governance
1 expertRules, institutions and accountability.
“this ai ripoff, which again has no link, then goes to the top of hackernews, which used to drive a considerable number of readers to us. our site is essentially banned from hackernews bc the mods are obsessively pro silicon valley even though the userbase i…”