The Authors Guild, the largest professional organization for writers in the United States, is partnering with a new start-up called Created by Humans. The goal is to help writers license the rights to their books to artificial intelligence companies. The partnership comes as authors and publishers grapple with the rapid growth of AI in the book world.
The Authors Guild has taken a strong stance against the unauthorized use of books by AI companies to train large language models. These models power chatbots that can generate complex and often evocative text. Last year, the Authors Guild sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, on behalf of authors.
They argue that using books to train ChatGPT’s chatbot without licensing the rights is copyright infringement. By endorsing Created by Humans’ platform, the Authors Guild acknowledges that AI disruption in the book business is unavoidable.
Authors Guild’s new licensing initiative
Through the partnership, the Authors Guild will help Created by Humans develop webinars for authors. The webinars will explain how licensing works and what options authors have. “What’s good about licensing is it gives the author and the publisher control, as well as compensation, and it gives you the ability to say no,” said Mary Rasenberger, the chief executive of the Authors Guild.
She will serve on Created by Humans’ advisory board. “Right now, it’s the A.I. companies that just went and crawled pirate websites and swept all that material in.”
Several AI companies have already expressed interest in licensing book content through the platform, according to Trip Adler, the co-founder and chief executive of Created by Humans. Adler did not name the companies, citing nondisclosure agreements.
Authors Douglas Preston and Walter Isaacson are optimistic about the idea. They see it as a way for writers to maintain control over their work in an increasingly digital landscape.
