Thousands of writers around the world have decided to launch an unusual protest against the use of their works by artificial intelligence companies.
Specifically, nearly 10,000 authors have participated in the publication of a practically empty book entitled Don’t Steal This Booka work whose only content consists of the list of names of those who support the initiative.
Among the participants are figures of literature such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory y Richard Osmanall of them joining this campaign to denounce that many artificial intelligence companies use copyrighted works without asking permission or offering financial compensation.
The book is being distributed to attendees at the London book fair, and the protest comes at a key time, with the British government due to present a report by March 18 on the economic impact of possible changes to copyright legislation.
“The AI industry is built on stolen work, taken without permission or payment,” he notes. Ed Newton-Rexthe activist and organizer of the initiative. He also warned of the consequences for creators: «This is not a victimless crime: generative AI competes with the people whose work is used to train it, stealing their livelihoods. The government must protect UK creatives and refuse to legalize the theft of creative work by AI companies.»
The debate arises because artificial intelligence systems require large amounts of data to develop, including copyrighted texts obtained from the Internet. This is generating conflicts with authors and creative companies around the world, provoking lawsuits in both Europe and the United States.
The publishing industry is also preparing its own response: at the London book fair A collective licensing initiative will be introduced to make it easier for AI companies to legally access published workss. For its part, the British government has indicated that it seeks a copyright system that “values and protects human creativity, generates trust and allows innovation to be driven.”