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I learned about the burning of The Library of Alexandria by Julius Caesar as a kid and, being a book kid, thinking it was one of the most despicable things ever done. I thought about all the things that would never be read and it made me sad. It's happening again now and it's no less despicable.

404 Media@404media.co

SCOOP: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it. What did we find? It ended up at an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:

404media.coWe Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training FacilityWe placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.

17/8/26, 2:12 pm1 repost0 likes

AV MSP/Colin Birney

@av-msp.com

17 Aug

To be clear, these companies could absolutely release these books for the public to research from and enjoy. They won't. It's their "competitive advantage" now.

AV MSP/Colin Birney

@av-msp.com

17 Aug

I also do recognize that there is a lot of not so great stuff in print. It's like the groups that restore movies - they long for the day that they won't be restoring a low-effort western. But it doesn't mean it's not worth preserving something in limited supply.

AV MSP/Colin Birney

@av-msp.com

17 Aug

Especially considering what AI promises to bring us, the worst written book or badly made film deserves a place above whatever an LLM is "creating."