AI in the news

AI IN THE NEWS

Game of Thrones author George R R Martin was among a cabal of writers recently threatening legal action against Chat GPT owner Open AI for infringing on copyright.

Side note: I feel I earned the right to comment on all Game of Thrones-related topics by hefting my way through all the books before the TV show reached its dismal conclusion. In fact I removed the beautifully illustrated jacket from the cover of my hardback copy of A Dance with Dragons for long reads on a train commute I was making at the time, for fear of appearing to the other commuters that I was away with the Targaryens. Ahem!

Who knows how this copyright dispute will play out in the long run – we’ve seen similar things with music created by AIs that have been fed with popular music and told to get on and write a hit. In this particular literary case Open AI seems to be challenging the authors’ understanding of copyright. And in turn George RR doesn’t like it that Open AI has fed his magnum opus into the digital cauldron which is Chat GPT, which is now able to come up with suggested prequels and sequels to the Game of Thrones saga at the drop of a hat. A word of warning to Open AI: the alarming rate with which Martin removes body parts from characters in his stories suggests a warped and dangerous mind. If I were you I would give him a wide berth and give him what he wants. *George, if you’re reading, I’m only joking – I bloody loved the books and I was gutted there weren’t any more.

The only fiction PastMaster has dabbled in so far is Lord of the Rings (season 1, episode 4), in which Gandalf stubbornly refused to address the glaring plot hole in Tolkien’s epic (don’t get me started on those frickin eagles). If anything, it felt as though Chat GPT was stoically defending JRR Tolkien’s story and trying to bat away attempts to dick about with the established narrative it knows to be correct. Is this an infringement of authors’ rights? Should the Tolkien estate get cash for having the books fed into AI language models? My gut feeling is yes. But then again if these AI companies have to pay out to the author of every text they train their bots on, won’t it bankrupt them? And also who really wants to read (or even cares about) a language bot’s suggestion for a Game of Thrones sequel?

My mind immediately goes to what other novels PastMaster visit and how could they be doctored or infected with a different genre? I have a pathological aversion to Pride and Prejudice (which I am regularly told is a sign of my flawed character) and I would love to go to the Pemberley Estate and set loose a horde of zombies toward that arrogant Mr Darcy and turn his lawn into that iconic scene from 28 Days Later. I’m sure our accommodating AI narrator could be persuaded to allow the creation of a zombie virus.

NOTE: I’ve just looked this up and apparently there was a film made in 2016 called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, starring Matt Smith of all people. Oh well, at least I’m not the only one hankering for a horror-themed conclusion to Jane Austen’s masterpiece.