Authors Are Losing Their Patience With AI as Technology Continues to Evolve

The Great Dataset Debacle: Authors Speak Out Against Prosecraft

On a typical Monday morning, numerous writers woke up to discover that their books had been uploaded and scanned into a massive dataset without their consent. This project, spearheaded by cloud word processor Shaxpir’s Prosecraft, aimed to compile over 27,000 books for analysis and ranking based on the "vividness" of their language.

The Protest Heats Up

Many authors, including Young Adult powerhouse Maureen Johnson and ‘Little Fires Everywhere’ author Celeste Ng, took to social media to express their outrage against Prosecraft. Even books published less than a month ago had been uploaded to the dataset, further fueling the controversy.

After a day of intense online backlash, Prosecraft creator Benji Smith took down the website, which had existed since 2017. In his defense, Smith wrote:

"I’ve spent thousands of hours working on this project, cleaning up and annotating text, organizing and tweaking things… But in the meantime, ‘AI’ became a thing. And the arrival of AI on the scene has been tainted by early use-cases that allow anyone to create zero-effort impersonations of artists, cutting those creators out of their own creative process."

The Concerns Go Beyond Prosecraft

While Smith’s Prosecraft was not a generative AI tool, authors worried that it could become one. With a dataset of over a quarter billion words from published books amassed by crawling the internet, Prosecraft showed two paragraphs from a book: one "most passive" and one "most vivid." The books were then placed into percentile rankings based on how vivid, long, or passive they were.

The Fair Use Doctrine vs. Author Consent

Author Ilana Masad spoke out against Prosecraft, stating:

"It feels really bad. AI can’t replace human writers… Science fiction publishers are being flooded with AI-generated stories."

Regarding the dataset, Masad expressed concerns about authors’ consent and the potential misuse of their work.

The Role of Publishers and Marketing Teams

Masad worries that publishers might be convinced to replace marketing and publicity teams with AI-generated promotional content. She fears that this could lead to a homogenization of voices in literature and a decrease in originality.

Update: Comment from Amazon Spokesperson

In response to the controversy, an Amazon spokesperson provided insight into the company’s stance on AI-generated content:

"Amazon is committed to supporting authors and creators in their work. While we recognize the potential benefits of AI tools in writing, we also acknowledge the importance of human imagination and creativity in shaping stories."

The Debate Continues

As the debate surrounding Prosecraft and AI-generated content rages on, one thing remains clear: authors will continue to speak out against any attempts to undermine their creative rights.

In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and changing the way we create and consume art, it’s crucial that we prioritize transparency, consent, and human creativity. The fate of Prosecraft and its dataset serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of these values in the world of literature.

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