We end the week with two AI stories at very different ends of the news spectrum. First up is a statement from Authors Guild on AI in publishing and, as they put it, a “new model contract clause.” The statement is an explicit response to the reports I noted previously that publishing professionals are uploading manuscripts to AI models to assist with editing tasks.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
Consent and Consumer-Facing AI
The statement takes aim at two things in particular. First is in regard to using “consumer-facing” AI tools. The implication here is clear: it is not acceptable to upload authors' work when that work might then train AI models and might find its way into responses to people's prompts.
And second is an emphasis on the importance of consent. Even when an AI is being used, for example, for summarizing content that is not “consumer-facing,” gaining the author's consent matters. To summarize, as they put it:
“The Authors Guild calls on publishers and others in the industry to enforce strict policies with their staffs to ensure that authors give written permission before their work is uploaded into any AI and to ensure that authors' works and personal information are not used for training.”
Interestingly the suggested clauses go beyond these concerns, stating in an additional clause:
“Publisher agrees that it will not use AI to edit a manuscript, other than for the use of basic spelling and grammar-checking applications. Further, Publisher warrants that any textual or art changes it proposes will not have been created by AI.”
Character.AI Turns Books into Games
The second story is an announcement from Character.AI that it is introducing something called c.ai books. For a tool that aims to make reading exciting and engrossing it bears, I have to say, hardly the catchiest of names. In short, c.ai books turns books into games. The press release puts it, “Step into a story, talk to its characters, and there's a good chance you walk away wanting to pick up the original. Not replacing books—but making them impossible to ignore.”
For now, the titles being used are all public domain ones. Readers can choose, for example, to play the book as a character (for example, playing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as the White Rabbit). It sounds as though the idea is similar to solo role-playing games. And as a writer I can see that being able to expand how people experience my worlds in a way I choose might be of interest.
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