I received an intriguing Christmas gift from a friend – my personalized best-selling" book titled "Tech-Splaining for Dummies, with my name and photo on the cover. The book, created by an AI using information provided by my friend Janet, has garnered positive reviews.
While the book mimics my writing style and contains humorous sections, it tends to ramble and falls somewhere between a self-help guide and a collection of anecdotes. It's verbose and occasionally repetitive, possibly because the AI went beyond Janet's input data.
Notably, the book humorously includes fictitious references to my non-existent cat and an abundance of metaphors. The AI service responsible for creating the book, BookByAnyone, offers personalized books for purchase, with each copy priced at £26.
Despite the humorous intent behind these AI-generated books, concerns have been raised by artists and creators about the ethical implications of using their work to train AI models. Ed Newton Rex, the founder of Fairly Trained, advocates for respecting creators' rights when utilizing generative AI tools for creative purposes.
Furthermore, the idea of utilizing creators' content without consent for AI training purposes has sparked debates regarding copyright law and ethical AI development. Baroness Kidron, along with other advocates, emphasizes the importance of protecting the creative industries from potential exploitation by AI technologies.
In light of the evolving landscape of AI technology, there are growing concerns about the ethical use of AI tools, especially in areas like content creation and training data collection. As the industry navigates these challenges, individuals like the writer contemplate the future implications of AI on their writing career, recognizing the current limitations of generative AI tools for complex projects.