RIP Vermeer, You Would’ve Hated AI
A biography of the Dutch painter misses the mark, Ed Simon reacts to Anthropic’s book-pulping, and more.
Anthropic, a prominent AI company, has been scanning and destroying out-of-print books in order to train their large language models. This act has been met with outrage from some in the literary community, who argue that it represents a fascist logic and an affront to the very spirit of storytelling and artmaking. Ed Simon, a writer, has articulated the reasoning behind this destruction and has reminded us of the importance of reading, writing, and critiquing in the face of such actions.
Some, like Natasha Seaman, have expressed mixed feelings about a new biography of Dutch artist Vermeer, praising the book but questioning its focus on the artist's religious beliefs over other mysteries, such as his possible use of a camera obscura. The German publishing giant Steidl Verlag is also facing an uncertain future, having come close to bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, libraries are struggling to deal with the influx of donated books, as they generally do not accept such donations.
Written by urgent.news from Hyperallergic's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
