A group of esteemed US authors, including Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, has filed a lawsuit against Openai in federal court, San Francisco. They accuse the Microsoft-backed organization of utilizing their literary works without permission to train ChatGPT, its popular AI-powered chatbot. Playwright David Henry Hwang and authors Matthew Klam, Rachel Louise Snyder, and Ayelet Waldman join Chabon in their legal action. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI copied their content to instruct ChatGPT in responding to human text prompts.
Authors Take Legal Action
In this lawsuit filed on Friday, the authors contend that OpenAI unlawfully employed their creative works for training purposes without seeking their consent. While Chabon's representatives referred queries about the lawsuit to the writers' legal team, neither the authors' lawyers nor OpenAI representatives have provided immediate comments as of Monday.
Multiple Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
This lawsuit marks at least the third proposed class action lawsuit related to copyright infringement filed by authors against OpenAI, which enjoys financial backing from Microsoft. Other prominent technology companies, including Microsoft, Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), and Stability AI, have also faced legal action from copyright owners alleging unauthorized use of their content for AI training.
AI Training and Fair Use
OpenAI and similar companies argue that AI training practices, including the use of copyrighted material collected from the internet, fall within the bounds of fair use. They maintain that such practices are essential for advancing AI capabilities.
ChatGPT's Remarkable Growth
ChatGPT experienced unparalleled growth and became the fastest-growing consumer application in history earlier this year. It garnered 100 million monthly active users in January, only to be surpassed by Meta's Threads app later.
Value of Literary Works in AI Training
The authors contend that literary works such as books, plays, and articles are invaluable in training ChatGPT, as they represent prime examples of high-quality, long-form writing. They argue that their writing was included in ChatGPT's training dataset without their consent. Furthermore, they claim that the system can accurately summarize their works and generate text that mimics their unique writing styles.
Seeking Damages and Legal Action
The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and requests a court order to prohibit OpenAI from engaging in what the authors perceive as "unlawful and unfair business practices."
This legal battle between the group of authors and OpenAI highlights the ongoing debate surrounding the use of copyrighted content for AI training purposes. As technology companies continue to develop AI-powered applications, the boundaries of fair use and copyright infringement remain subjects of contention and legal scrutiny.
