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laminda, to bookstodon
@laminda@mastodon.social avatar

If you recently learned that your book (or books) were used without your knowledge or consent to train AI, here's what you can do next, according to the Authors Guild (which has already filed a class action suit against OpenAI, representing more than a dozen writers).

https://authorsguild.org/news/you-just-found-out-your-book-was-used-to-train-ai-now-what/

@bookstodon

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@ErikJonker @laminda @bookstodon I think the answer is no. You own A COPY of the book, but the content. So using that for your own purposes is not justified.

Some time ago, I bought a piece of original art, because I wanted to use it on my book cover. The artists was fine with that, but I asked - because even the ownership of an original piece of art does not give me the right to reproduce it for my own gain (AFAIK).

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@maartenpelgrim @ErikJonker @laminda @bookstodon Fair Use: Where you are allowed to use an extract of a published work (not all of it or even a subsstantial amout of it) with a reference to the original.

All of which is about using other works and guiding people to those original ones in preference if you want more detail, or to confirm the quote or implication is acurate.

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@maartenpelgrim @ErikJonker @laminda @bookstodon And I think the problem is that LLM might not properly represent the original.

So I might say "Einstein said that E = mc^2" - and refer to his paper.

An LLM might - quite easily - misrepresent this - saying that Einstein said e = mc, for example, whih matches the correct structure, but an academc reference implies that I have read the original, and understood it. LLM doesn;t do this.

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@ErikJonker @maartenpelgrim @laminda @bookstodon LLM as a tool to organise thoughts etc is fine (as a general rule, it is good for that - building a structure of what your answer/paper should look like). The problem comes if the source material you feed into an LLM is used elsewhere - if it is passed to the LLM owner, for training the LLM process (as they mostly are)

Then you and the LLM have probably violated copyright - albeit unwittingly on your part.

KitMuse, to bookstodon
@KitMuse@eponaauthor.social avatar

Okay, now I want to know if there are any academic journals devoted to speculative fiction. I know there are the anthologies like BtVS and Philosophy (or the book I have on my TBR, the Religions of Star Trek).

If there isn't, must look up what it takes to start one, because that would certainly fall under the umbrella of something I'm working on.

@bookstodon

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@KitMuse @aram @electricarchaeo @bookstodon That sounds interesting, and good luck.

I tried to get a reference to Firefly into my PhD thesis, but it never made it.

HailsandAles, to random
@HailsandAles@metalhead.club avatar

My shirt arrived here in the UK. Thanks @thomas I shall post a picture at some point but for now here’s some business cards

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@HailsandAles @thomas A t-shirt-like package arrived today, and I was hopeful.

It was for my son instead. Oh well. Soon.

thomas, to random
@thomas@metalhead.club avatar

metalhead.club was updated to 4.1.9 ✅

(released 6 minutes ago)

This fixed various issues that have bene introduced by the recent update, such as failing translation requests.

@Kitty

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@thomas @Kitty Excellent - thank you Thomas.

SteveClough, to bookstodon Japanese
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@jules @timgatewood @niten @betaquarii @bookstodon Yes - I couldn;t think of an example, but this is one where the speculation is not science-based (really).

As with music, I maintain incredulity towards genres. They can be useful, but not if they are rigorously used to divide.

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@timgatewood @jules @niten @betaquarii @bookstodon Well the genre is actually, in full, SFF - including fantasy, which most of these would be included in.

But this is why I am not a fan of genres, because it excludes some that should be included, and means that gross-genre work - which can be so incredible - is problematic.

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@DarkMatterZine @timgatewood @niten @betaquarii @bookstodon Yes agree there. I have called my book "Magical Realism" because it involves magic in the real world. But it is much more fantasy/humour than literature (nobody has ever accused me of writing literature).

I guess this is the problem with a genre - so often, it is really wide. It covers radically different areas. Or it is so niche as to be the purview of one or two authors, wnd inpregnable.

ChrisMayLA6, to bookstodon
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

This week I've been mainly reading, no 91.

Taking the form of an extended mission message to earth from an intergalactic exploratory mission, Becky Chambers' novella, To be Taught if Fortunate (2019), is a quick read. While lacking narrative fireworks its a pleasing matter-of-fact description of space exploration & the ethical dilemmas it will encounter. While ultimately rather melancholy, it is an interesting afternoon's read if you like procedural
@bookstodon

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@MattMastodon @ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon That anchors it to our time, I guess.

DarkMatterZine, to bookstodon Japanese
@DarkMatterZine@mastodon.social avatar

@jules @timgatewood @SteveClough @niten @betaquarii @bookstodon IMO just as defining genres is tricky, assuming a POV from a comment or two is fraught.
Like, I just reviewed a book that is sold as cosy crime/murder but I say it’s also fantasy and this is a hill I’m prepared to defend. It’s complicated.
Best not to read too much into it or anything short of an essay on the topic.

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@DarkMatterZine @jules @timgatewood @niten @betaquarii @bookstodon

Genre can be decided by the reader, and can differ between readers:

I like this because it has space travel in it

I like it because it has romance

I like it because it has dream sequences

I like it because it has the word "willy" in it.

Oh sorry, that last one from my 5YO self.

niten, to bookstodon Japanese
@niten@famichiki.jp avatar

@timgatewood @betaquarii @bookstodon I’m totally out of the loop, but this suggests science fiction = speculative fiction 🤔

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@niten @timgatewood @betaquarii @bookstodon Not entirely - science fiction is part of speculative fiction. Or rather, a lot of it is.

Also, there are crossovers.

I always take the view that there will be something that can be classed as sci-fi for anyone. Some niche of it that anyone who reads can find enjoyment in.

szilviavirag, to bookstodon
@szilviavirag@mastodon.social avatar

What's the best novel you've read so far this year? I'd love some recommendations. Thank you.
@bookstodon

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@CommonMugwort @szilviavirag @bookstodon I have a copy in my pile. I love books that mess me up.

thomas, to random
@thomas@metalhead.club avatar

Who's next?

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@thomas Me me me me me me me me me!

It would be really nice to get one wthat I can still wear this year, before it gets too cold...

weebdeluxe, to bookstodon
@weebdeluxe@urusai.social avatar

Reading Pet Sematary for the first time while y'all be reading King's latest is a very special kind of mood.

How are you enjoying it so far?

@bookstodon

SteveClough,
@SteveClough@metalhead.club avatar

@Doreen32128 @StephM @weebdeluxe @bookstodon I don't tend to throw books, but Charlotte Grey by Sebastian Faulks brought me home and having to hug my kids. Utterly traumatising.

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