So get this, folks. The Authors Guild, a bunch of writers, and a whole gang of authors are taking OpenAI to task for allegedly using their work to train its chatbots. Yeah, you heard it right. They’re going after OpenAI for training their chatbots on their own writing. Talk about a dragon-sized lawsuit, my friends.
Now, the authors involved in this copyright infringement case include some big names like David Baldacci, Mary Bly, Michael Connelly, Sylvia Day, Jonathan Franzen, John Grisham, and more. These folks are not happy, folks. They’re claiming that OpenAI using their work in its models takes away their ability to make a living. Why? Well, because now anyone can use these language models to create texts that would otherwise be paid for. You can see why these writers are fired up about this.
According to the complaint, OpenAI’s chatbot, known as ChatGPT, has even been able to create a detailed outline for a prequel book to Game of Thrones. Yeah, you heard that right. It’s using Martin’s characters and creating new stories. And it’s not just Martin, folks. Other authors in this lawsuit are claiming the same thing. They’re saying that OpenAI has copied their writing without permission and is creating unlawful derivatives of their copyrighted work.
But here’s the kicker, folks. The authors believe that OpenAI may have even used pirated books in their training data. They’re saying that the growth in power and sophistication of OpenAI’s models suggests that large sources of pirated ebooks must have been used. They’re claiming that there’s no other way OpenAI could have obtained such a large volume of books for training these models. It’s a bold accusation, my friends.
Now, OpenAI has admitted to using datasets called “Books1” and “Books2” for training their models, but they haven’t revealed what’s in these datasets. And the authors are suspicious, my friends. They’re thinking that pirate books might have found their way into OpenAI’s training data. And let me tell you, they are not happy about it.
So what do these authors want? Well, they want damages, my friends. They want to be compensated for the lost opportunity to license their works and for the market usurpation that OpenAI has enabled. They also want a permanent injunction to stop these harms from happening again. They mean business, folks.
This is a big deal for these authors, folks. They feel like their work is being stolen on a massive scale. And you know what? They’re right. Fiction writers create entire worlds from their imaginations, and now OpenAI is just taking that and using it for their own gain. It’s a clear infringement on their intellectual property rights, my friends.
So we’ll have to see how this lawsuit plays out, folks. But one thing’s for sure – things are about to get real interesting for OpenAI. Stay tuned for more updates on this story, my friends. You don’t want to miss it.
