Nearly 20,000 renowned Australian authors’ books were exploited for artificial intelligence (AI) without the author’s permission.
U.S.-based Books3 dataset allegedly pirated the works to train AI for corporations such as Meta and Bloomberg.
The “dismayed authors” searched for their books (183,000) in the dataset. Still, according to the Australian Society of Authors (ASA), many were unaware that their works had been used.
ASA CEO Olivia Lanchester said AI developers chose to help themselves to authors’ property to build robust, revolutionary software.
“This is not how a fair market functions. Writers and artists are real people who bring us joy, give our lives meaning and deserve dignity and fair payment for their very real work,” Ms. Lanchester said on Sept. 28.
“We support emerging technologies, but there was a missed opportunity to develop artificial intelligence ethically with transparency, permission and payment.
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“Instead, authors and artists are being locked out of the AI boom. It’s not too late to turn this around and move to appropriate licensing.”
The ASA will express “serious concerns” to AI companies, request action, and continue advocating to the Federal government on behalf of authors.
Affected Australian authors include Trent Dalton, Sally Hepworth, Candice Fox, Grantlee Kieza, Liane Moriarty, John Marsden, Richard Flanagan, and Colleen McCullough.
The Biggest Act of Copyright Theft in History, Authors Say
Award-winning novelists expressed their grave concerns.Author Richard Flanagan, who discovered 10 of his novels were exploited, was “deeply shocked” and felt his soul had been “strip-mined” while being “powerless to stop it.”
“This is the biggest act of copyright theft in history,” Mr. Flanagan said.
Author Trent Dalton discovered his debut novel “Boy Swallows Universe” was included, saying, “For me, it’s unsettling, and I find it deeply invasive.”
He said the book was his “mum’s story,” therefore, “it’s not even potentially taking things from me; it’s taking things from my mum.”
“This sweet mum of mine who went through hell beautifully gave me that story, the only gift my mum could give me,” he said.
Meanwhile, author Lauren Groff wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “I would never have consented for Meta to train AI on any of my books, let alone five of them. Hyperventilating.”
Margaret Atwood discovered 30 of her works were exploited and wrote in response to the pirating, “That is so ... cheap.”
AI is an ‘Imminent Threat’
The Australian Writers Guild (AWG) issued a position paper on Sept. 28 outlining AI’s imminent threat and an extensive framework to protect workers and audiences after the Writers Guild of America won AI contract protections.“The unregulated use of AI by corporate content producers—including the major international studios and major video game publishers—represents a clear and present danger to Australian writing, and consequently a significant dilution of our critical functions,” the paper said (pdf).
“It is our position that the Australian creative sectors require the implementation of unambiguous guidelines, reinforced by rigorous, forward-looking legislation to provide strong protections.”
AWG Executive Director Claire Pullen said AI comes from “scraping” works of Australian authors and creatives.
She called for “unambiguous guidelines” and “strong legislation” to protect our arts workers and to ensure Australia has a creative and cultural future.
“AI has a place in our industries, but it is not in replacing the creative heart of every story,” Ms. Pullen said.
Australia’s Copyright Agency Chief Executive Josephine Johnston said Books3 came at the expense of Australia’s creative and cultural life.
“We’re going to need greater transparency about how these tools have been developed, trained, and how they operate before people can truly understand their legal rights,” Ms. Johnston said.
“We seem to be in this terrible position now where content owners, remembering that most of them will be individual authors, may have to take out court cases to enforce their rights.”
Safe and Responsible AI in Australia
The Australian government sought advice to mitigate the potential risks of AI and feedback on possible AI regulation and governance on June 1.A discussion paper titled “Safe and Responsible AI in Australia” noted low levels of public trust and confidence in AI technologies; therefore, building trust and confidence in the community could involve considering further regulatory and governance to ensure appropriate safeguards.
Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic said the government’s $41 million investment in AI was a “good start.”
“Using AI safely and responsibly is a balancing act the whole world is grappling with at the moment,” he said in June.
The Governance Institute of Australia (GIA) CEO Megan Motto welcomed the discussion paper as an essential step to understand current regulatory initiatives and what work should be done.
“We want, however, to ensure regulation in this space doesn’t curb the productivity opportunities AI can bring,” Ms. Motto said.
Further, GIA called for establishing a dedicated and independent AI Safety Commissioner and Agency to support regulators, policymakers, governments, and businesses in applying laws for AI-informed decision-making.
“It’s fundamental to such an approach that the government must help build public trust in AI, as it will continue to embed itself in most aspects of life going forward,” Ms. Motto said.
