I've been consumed for parts! AI Pirating scandal hits where it hurts
In which I discover my books have been eaten by the machine
Hit the ❤️ so I know you’re reading, and if this message makes sense to you, pass it on so others can be aware. Comments are open!
"One of the biggest questions of the digital age is how to manage the flow of knowledge and creative work in a way that benefits society the most. LibGen and other such pirated libraries make information more accessible, allowing people to read original work without paying for it. Yet generative-AI companies such as Meta have gone a step further: Their goal is to absorb the work into profitable technology products that compete with the originals. Will these be better for society than the human dialogue they are already starting to replace?"~The Atlantic
Yesterday my agent alerted me to the fact that Meta and OpenAI had mined my entire library of books and fed them into its generative AI machine. I checked the pirate site Libgen and they are all there, all 55 or so, even the ones I ONLY sell on my website, not elsewhere--which was shocking.
My life's work, ground to bytes for someone else's profit.
I stay positive, folks. You know I do. But this year, between boycotts of big business and the deluge of AI-generated crap flooding the marketplace, my book sales are on the rocks...and now I discover that my own work has been used to kill my way of making a living.
The Atlantic article exposing this scandal quoted internal memos from the companies showing that they knew full well that "torrenting" downloads of pirated works was illegal and unethical...but they did it anyway.
There's a lawsuit. I'm going to see if I can join it. I'll probably get $11 in about five years. But it's the principle of the thing, right?
And in future, if you can...support creative folks by buying directly from their sites, will you?
Here’s my website link, and you can get TWO free books there.
Yes, I give my work away already, hoping to get you hooked, and that someday down the line you buy something. That’s worked well for me until the last year or two…but this?
Next level exploitation.
If you wonder why authors are opposed to AI, it's because we've been cannibalized illegally and now are forced to compete with zombies made from our own creative work.
Hit the ❤️ so I know you’re reading, and if this message makes sense to you, pass it on so others can be aware. Comments are open to all!
So sorry to hear about this. It’s horrible, heartbreaking and extremely discouraging. ☹️
You are not the first I've heard from about AI. I have not ventured into AI other that what happens automatically on some sites. I resent it. I hate it for you and all the others who have been swallowed into the maw of AI. Get on the lawsuit, do as an individual, do whatever you can, this is not right, it is stealing your work. Now I've got to figure is anything of mine is in there. I know all my genealogy work has spread throughout the web but I had not considered AI in that as my work was spread before WWW and further with it. A password hint with any of my family or dog names is not safe, it is easily found. Time to put a stop to internet theft.