'No consent': Australian authors 'livid' that Meta may have used their books to train AI

Australian authors say they are "livid" and feel violated that their work was included in an allegedly pirated dataset of books Meta used to train its AI. In court filings in January it was alleged chief executive Mark Zuckerberg approved the use of the LibGen dataset – an online archive of books – to train the company's artificial intelligence models despite warnings from his AI executive team that it is a dataset "we know to be pirated". The Atlantic has published a searchable database where authors can type in their name to see what of their work is included in LibGen dataset. It includes books published by many Australian authors, including some by former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and John Howard. Holden Sheppard, the author of Invisible Boys, a hit young adult novel that has been adapted into a series on Stan, said two of his books and two short stories were included.