c/technology · by themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 19d

World's largest open library calls for volunteers to scan and preserve physical books as AI companies buy, scan, and destroy them — Anna's Archive says ‘time is running out’ as ‘knowledge is permanent

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/worlds-largest-open-library-calls-for-volunteers-to-scan-and-preserve-physical-books-as-ai-companies-buy-scan-and-destroy-them-annas-archive-says-time-is-running-out-as-knowledge-is-permanently-monopolized-on-private-servers

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/74448280

cross-posted from: https://kbin.earth/m/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com/t/3120649

As AI tech companies increasingly buy and destroy books to feed to their AI models, Anna's Archive is calling for volunteers to help preserve them for the public record.

67 points · 4 comments · view on lemmy.world

4 Comments

Antagnostic@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 19d

[ removed ]

artyom@piefed.social · -3 pts · 19d (3 replies)

I don't get it. Can't they just...print more books?

SigHunter@discuss.tchncs.de · 11 pts · 19d (2 replies)

A book from 1920 will probably not get printed again

artyom@piefed.social · -6 pts · 19d (1 reply)

...why not?

If it hasn't been printed more than once in a literal century, is that really a loss?

Havatra@lemmy.zip · 12 pts · 19d

Potentially, yes. Sure, it could just be some smut novel, but it could also provide insight into a certain group or people's perspective on societal/political events at the time, contributing to a better painted big picture on an event we thought we knew all there is to know about.

A very recent example is the VHS tapes that contained unseen and unpublished footage of Tiananmen Square.