Esteemed authors, including Margaret Atwood, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Philip Pullman, have rallied behind the Authors Guild to address a pressing issue in the world of artificial intelligence (AI). They have united their voices in an open letter addressed to major AI companies like OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta, Stability AI, and IBM, demanding an end to the unauthorized use of their works and advocating for fair compensation.
At the core of the matter lies the dependence of generative AI technologies on the language, stories, style, and ideas crafted by human writers. The petition emphasizes that millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry serve as the foundation of AI systems, yet authors have not received proper acknowledgment or compensation for their invaluable contributions. Disturbingly, AI companies have faced accusations of incorporating authors’ works into their software, extensively reproducing them, and generating derivative content without proper recognition.
Maya Shanbhag Lang, the president of the Authors Guild, emphasizes the necessity of fair compensation for authors, stating that AI’s output will always be derivative in nature, regurgitating the work of human writers. She asserts that authors’ works should not be used without consent, credit, and compensation, stressing the importance of all three aspects.
Writers are concerned about the potential flood of machine-generated content, which could undermine the integrity of the writing profession. Many books used in AI “training” datasets have been sourced from unauthorized platforms, casting doubt on AI companies’ fair use arguments.
The Authors Guild’s petition highlights the challenges writers face, as their income has seen a 40% decline over the past decade. According to the Authors Guild’s income survey, the median writing-related income for full-time writers in the US in 2022 was a meager $23,330. The increasing adoption of AI technology compounds these challenges, especially for writers from underrepresented communities, making it even more challenging to sustain their livelihoods through their creative work.
The open letter urges AI industry leaders to take three critical actions: seek permission for the use of copyrighted material, provide fair compensation for past and ongoing use of authors’ works, and offer appropriate payment for the use of their works in AI-generated output.
The Authors Guild is actively collaborating with other creators’ unions and the British Copyright Council to establish regulations, compensation measures, and safeguards. They have already published guidance for authors on safeguarding their works from AI exploitation.
