Authors are resisting AI with petitions and lawsuits. But they have an advantage: we read to form relationships with writers

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 03:44:37 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/authors-are-resisting-ai-with-petitions-and-lawsuits-but-they-have-an-advantage-we-read-to-form-relationships-with-writers-208046>

"The first waves of AI-generated text have writers and publishers reeling.

In the United States last week, the Authors Guild submitted an open letter to
the chief executives of prominent AI companies, asking AI developers to obtain
consent from, credit and fairly compensate authors. The letter was signed by
more than 10,000 authors and their supporters, including James Patterson,
Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen and Margaret Atwood.

An Australian Society of Authors member survey conducted in May showed 74% of
authors “expressed significant concern about the threat of generative AI tools
to writing or illustrating professions”. The society supports the demands of
the Authors Guild letter, with Geraldine Brooks and Linda Jaivin among the
Australian writers who have signed so far.

Given the initial flurry of excitement about ChatGPT, these concerns certainly
seem reasonable.

Yet there is a long tradition of techno-gloom with regard to reading and
writing: the internet, mass broadcast media, the novel form, the printing
press, the act of writing itself. Every new technology brings concerns about
how old media might be superseded, and the social and cultural implications of
widespread uptake.

Unpacking these concerns often reveals as much about existing practices of
writing and publishing as it does about the new technology."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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