Creators and AI

I spent a recent Saturday morning at a Starbucks, reading a fiction novel I've wanted to read for a while.

On the legal page of this novel, there is language expressly forbidding the use of the book to train AI models.

I'm not surprised it's there.

I'm surprised I haven't seen it more often.

(I included similar language on the legal pages of both children's books I published.)

As someone whose AI usage continues to increase daily, but who ALSO creates content regularly, I recognize more than most that a balance needs to exist between Creators and AI.

Al needs to be trained using content to become useful for people, including creators who may be using it without even realizing it. (Hint: if you're using spell-check, you're probably using some form of AI. And if you're using Grammarly, you definitely are.)

Content creators need to be paid for the work they produce if they're to continue creating work for us to enjoy.

But how? How much? How often? At what rate? For what period of usage?

We don't have definitive answers to any of these questions yet.

But we'd better figure it out soon.

Because AI models continue to eat up as much content as they can, and their appetite is insatiable.

Interestingly, immediately above the paragraph restricting AI models from using the work for training purposes is an example of how the music industry has handled the use of its work in publishing. And if they can figure out licensing for the music industry, they can certainly do it for other forms of content.