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Do you really think AI companies are seeking out outdated/unpopular books to train their models on?
by ktm5j 1mo ago
Do you really think AI companies are seeking out outdated/unpopular books to train their models on?
- shagie 1mo agoYes. https://www.npr.org/2026/08/19/nx-s1-5936438/why-tech-companies-are-buying-up-tons-of-rare-old-books-to-train-their-ai-models https://www.npr.org/2026/08/19/nx-s1-5936438/why-tech-compan... NPR's Juana Summers speaks with 404 Media cofounder and reporter Emanuel Maiberg about his investigation into a shipment of rare books which ended up at an Amazon AI training warehouse. ... MAIBERG: So I think people obviously have a very negative reaction to anyone destroying books in large quantities. I think people hear the term rare book, and they're imagining a first edition of "Oliver Twist." SUMMERS: Right. Yeah. MAIBERG: Or something like this. That is not the case. A rare book is most likely a book that was never printed in large quantities because it is about a niche subject. It is what is called vanity publishing, where someone self-publishes a book. It's an instruction manual for a product that's no longer available. It's really things like this that people at the moment don't really care about. They don't have high emotional value. But we don't necessarily know what we might find valuable in the future.
- ktm5j 1mo agoI'm so glad we have you and your googling skills to assure us that this is nothing to worry about.
- jhbadger 1mo agoYes. That's the only sort of "rare book" that makes sense in context to train on. There's no point in destroying an actually valuable rare book like a first edition of the Origin of Species because those are available cheaply in reprints.