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George R.R. Martin sues OpenAI over copyright infringement

The Game of Thrones author is among several accusing the ChatGPT creator of violating copyright laws.

Donovan Erskine

September 21, 2023 8:35 AM

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While several of the world’s biggest tech companies have been tripping over themselves to implement AI into their goods and services, there remain widespread concerns about the ethics surrounding AI and how it works. Specifically, the unconsented use of existing material owned by human creators. It’s exactly what has landed ChatGPT maker OpenAI in hot water as the company is now being sued by Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin for copyright infringement.

The Author’s Guild filed a complaint against OpenAI in a New York federal court this week. The complaint was filed on behalf of several authors, including George Saunders, Jodi Picoult, Jonathan Franzen, and George R.R. Martin. It calls out OpenAI for allowing ChatGPT to be trained using their copyrighted material. The filing also describes ChatGPT’s algorithm as “systematic theft on a mass scale.”

“It is imperative that we stop this theft in its tracks or we will destroy our incredible literary culture, which feeds many other creative industries in the U.S.,” Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said in a statement. “Great books are generally written by those who spend their careers and, indeed, their lives, learning and perfecting their crafts. To preserve our literature, authors must have the ability to control if and how their works are used by generative AI.”

This isn’t the first time that OpenAI got sued over its ChatGPT service. Earlier this year, a radio host sued the tech company after ChatGPT generated false allegations of fraud against him. The danger that AI poses to writers, artists, and other creators has been heavily debated since the technology started taking off in recent years. For more updates not only ChatGPT but artificial intelligence across the board, stick with Shacknews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_