‘More than just objects’: Australian booksellers raise alarm over ‘horrific’ destruction of rare titles to feed AI
Summary
Booksellers in Australia are concerned that rare and secondhand books are being bought in large numbers and then destroyed by companies to provide data for artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The practice, known as "destructive scanning," involves cutting up books to scan their pages for AI training, and it has been legally allowed in the U.S. as a form of "transformative use." Australian sellers have noticed unusual orders from a company called Zoom Books, which is suspected of acting as an intermediary in this process.Key Facts
- Rare and secondhand books are being purchased and physically destroyed to feed AI systems with text data.
- This practice is called "destructive scanning," where books are cut open, scanned, and then pulped.
- A U.S. court ruled that this scanning is legal as "transformative use" under copyright law.
- Australian book sellers have received large, unusual orders from a Canadian company named Zoom Books.
- Orders from Zoom Books appeared random and included both cheap and rare books.
- Sellers found these orders inconvenient and disruptive to their usual sales patterns.
- The practice has raised concerns about the loss of historic and unique physical books.
- It is unclear how widespread the practice is beyond reported cases.
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