Almost 200,000 books are being used to train artificial intelligence systems by some of the biggest companies in technology. The problem? No one told the authors. The system is called Books3, and according to an investigation by The Atlantic, the data set is based on a collection of pirated e-books spanning all genres, from erotic fiction to prose poetry. Books help generative AI systems with learning how to communicate information.
” AI is inevitable, Sharma said later in an email — hence his lack of surprise. What was most aggravating, he said, is that no one was contacted about usage or payment. After all, education isn’t free in the US, he said; teachers are paid, and textbooks are bought. “It’s the Wild West right now with AI, and governmental policy on this is in its infancy,” Sharma said. “And consequently, tech companies are taking full advantage while they can. I’m glad it was just one cookbook and not my others.