Meta faces protest from 100 writers

Meta has been met with protests from more than a hundred writers, journalists, and translators at their office in Amsterdam. This action is directed against Meta's generative AI systems, which demonstrators claim have been trained on protected texts without the authors' consent. The organizers have demanded an end to the use of these texts and that writers receive a share of the revenue generated by Meta from their work.

The protesters, including well-known figures in the writing community, view the current policy as 'the theft of the century.' They loudly conveyed the message that Meta 'should stay away from their texts.' According to them, the development of AI tools threatens jobs because these systems are capable of producing cheap and fast text based on the works of others, raising concerns about their future and the quality of texts.

Organizers of the protest, including NVJ, the Auteursbond, and Stichting Lira, have indicated that they are considering legal action against Meta and similar companies. Thomas Bruning, general secretary of NVJ, emphasized that it's essential to advocate for the interests of writers to preserve their profession. Lawyer Michelle Mastenbroek from Lira also advocates for a collective arrangement in which authors are compensated for the use of their work, stressing the importance of a structural solution instead of one-time payments.

Some writers, such as Manik Sarkar, expressed their concerns over the quality of AI-generated texts, which they describe as hollow and unoriginal. Sarkar, however, sees a glimmer of hope in the rise of a broader protest movement that is increasingly appealing to younger generations. This growing awareness of the downsides of AI could lead to positive changes in the future, according to Sarkar.

Read the full article from AI Insider.