Meta ‘stole’ my book to train its AI – but there’s a bigger problem | TechRadar
This opinion piece lays out everything I hate and fear about genAI and says it far better than I have.
Yes, it's stealing from creators and that's unconscionable. But it's also dissuading future creators before they even pick up a pen, brush, pencil, or stylus and that's downright abominable.
The danger next is that young creators might see this landscape and wonder if creating is still worth it.
"I'm scared that we'll lose a future generation of painters, authors, musicians," Ellis tells me. "That they won't feel the thrill of discovery. The joy of putting hours into a creative pursuit for its own sake. Because companies like Meta have told them a machine can do the hard part – as if the hard part isn't the whole point."
What we lose when we turn to AI to "create" for us isn’t just jobs or royalties. We also lose the messy, magical process that gives art its meaning. Creators aren’t prompt-fed machines. They're emotional, chaotic and alive. Every poem, novel, song or sketch is shaped by memory, trauma, boredom, desire. That’s what we connect to isn't it? Not polish, but meaning and soul.
