HarperCollins is asking authors to sell their books to the A.I. woodchipper

In one of those developments that feels a bit like what we get instead of actual good things happening in the world of the modern internet, it sounds like the situation surrounding artificial intelligence training is about to move from “A thing nobody likes is happening” to “A thing nobody likes is happening, and also some people are getting paid to say it’s okay.” This, per a recent social media post from author and Colbert writer Daniel Kibblesmith, who revealed that he was approached by publisher HarperCollins about including his kids book Santa’s Husband (illustrated by A.P. Quach) in a deal the publisher is making to provide portions of their library to “a large tech company” for the purposes of training an A.I. language learning model.

The post includes screenshots of communications between Kibblesmith and the agency that represented him on the book, which was passing on the publisher’s offer for the title (a well-reviewed and charming kids book that “tells the story of a Black Santa, his white husband, and their life in the North Pole”). Kibblesmith was apparently offered a non-negotiable $2,500 to allow his book to be bundled in with other works for training, covering a three-year period of use. The posted email, which invokes the specter that “these A.I. models may one day make us all obsolete,” also mentions that “several hundred authors” have already agreed to the deal, and emphasizes the stance that, hey, getting to paid to have your work fed into an A.I. woodchipper is better than having it stolen for that same purpose.

Kibblesmith did not agree, including in his post a screenshot of his rejection of the deal, which he called “Abominable.” In a statement to The A.V. Club, Kibblesmith wrote that, “It seems like they think they’re cooked, and they’re chasing short money while they can. I disagree. The fear of robots replacing authors is a false binary. I see it as the beginning of two diverging markets, readers who want to connect with other humans across time and space, or readers who are satisfied with a customized on-demand content pellet fed to them by the big computer so they never have to be challenged again.”

HarperCollins has not responded to requests for comment.