Renowned authors Margaret Atwood and James Patterson are among the thousands of writers urging AI companies to honor copyrights.
In its open letter to generative AI leaders, the Authors Guild "calls on the CEOs of OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta, Stability AI, and IBM to obtain consent, credit, and fairly compensate writers" before incorporating copyrighted materials into their technologies.
UNSPECIFIED - DECEMBER 03: Margaret Atwood speaks during Equality Now's Virtual Make Equality Reality Gala on December 03, 2020 in UNSPECIFIED, United States.
Writers Address Generative AI Leaders
More than 8,000 writers asserted that generative AI technologies heavily depend on extensive language models, which owe their existence to the literary creations of these authors.
The AI systems mimic and reproduce their language, stories, styles, and ideas, drawing from millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry. However, the authors noted that they need to be compensated for providing the "food" for AI systems.
The authors acknowledged the origins of many books used to develop AI systems, which reportedly traced back to notorious piracy websites.
This practice raises ethical concerns, as it supposedly allows AI companies to profit from the unauthorized use of copyrighted material, undermining fair use principles.
The Supreme Court's recent decision in Warhol v. Goldsmith further strengthens the argument against considering such usage as fair, according to The Authors Guild.
"In the past decade or so, authors have experienced a forty percent decline in income, and the current median income for full-time writers in 2022 was only $23,000," the letter noted.
"The introduction of AI threatens to tip the scale to make 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," it added.
In response to these concerns, the authors urged AI leaders, such as Sam Altman of OpenAI, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Emad Mostaque of Stability AI, Arvind Krishna of IBM, and Satya Nadella of Microsoft, to take necessary measures to mitigate the damage to their profession.
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Three Key Actions
The writers' petition outlines three key actions:
- Obtain explicit permission to use copyrighted material in generative AI programs.
- Compensate writers fairly for their past and ongoing use of their works in generative AI programs.
- Pay writers for the use of their works in AI output, whether or not the outputs are infringing under current law.
The authors emphasized the gravity of their concerns and called for a collaborative effort to create a healthy ecosystem for writers and journalists in the years ahead.
By signing the petition, the authors hope to bring attention to the plight of writers and the need for AI companies to acknowledge the fundamental role of copyrighted content in their technologies.
Other authors who signed the open letter include Suzanne Collins, Michael Chabon, Nora Roberts, Douglas Preston, Jaunique Sealey, Roy Blount Jr., James Shapiro, Roxana Robinson, Sherri Burr, Eloisa James, and many more.
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