The Daily Scoop: Sarah Silverman wants AI to stop using her books as training fodder

Sarah Silverman, Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey are suing OpenAI and Meta over copyright infringement, Deadline reported.

The authors claim that the companies allow their AI software programs to take from their copyrighted material from their books and use it for their training dataset, Deadline reported.

Allegedly, OpenAI and Meta used Silverman’s “The Bedwetter,” Golden’s “Ararat” and Kadrey’s “Sandman Slim” books for their large language models.

Neither company immediately responded to comments about the lawsuits, according to The New York Times.

During a May Congressional hearing, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that “We need to figure out new ways with this new technology that creators can win, succeed and have a vibrant life, and I’m optimistic that this will present it.”

Why it matters: This case could prove a bellwether for how the rights of creators intersect with the voracious appetite of large language learning models for the data that fuels their knowledge.

Everything AI “knows” comes from somewhere. Everything they write is created by humans — humans who are not compensated and have no control over how their work is used. Currently, there is little recourse to stop one’s content from being gobbled up by AI, but these lawsuits could be the beginning of change in that arena.

Additionally, it offers a cautionary tale for those of us who are merely using ChatGPT and similar programs in our work: the copyright issues here are deeply unsettled and likely to change as courts grapple with this new technology. It’s yet another reason to be wary of these tools. Never use copy wholesale from generative AI. Use it for ideas, inspiration, a starting point, but anything you publish should transform the content you were given.

Continue to experiment with AI. But be cautious and prepare for change.

Daily Editor Picks:

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Sherri Kolade is a writer at Ragan Communications. When she is not with her family, she enjoys watching Alfred Hitchcock-style films, reading and building an authentically curated life that includes more than occasionally finding something deliciously fried. Follow her on LinkedIn. Have a great PR story idea? Email her at sherrik@ragan.com.