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N this tech themed issue of Information Professional, we were tempted to hand over all writing duties to our trusted AI intern. However, it turns out that writing sarcastic amusing yet informative, round-ups of sector news from across the world still requires a human hand. So here we are, and welcome to the future! First up and we head to 1983 and a piece on the BBC’s jazz music archive, for Jazz Record Requests. The show, which is still airing on BBC Radio 3 celebrated it’s 70th anniversary last year, and invites listeners to (*checks notes*) request a jazz record to be played. The archive footage of the archive reveals more than a million card records, tracking artist and titles, and filed in a vast array of cabinets. And while for many years these records were updated and searched by hand, the white heat of 1980s technology was fast approaching with the introduction of a microcomputer – replete with the reporter’s one fingered typing. Watch the video here (
https://tinyurl.com/MWSum25) and marvel at how far we’ve come. Next, we have a submission from Professor Ian Johnson, at Robert Gordon University, and a further step back in time and “a 21st Century problem from 19th Century fashion”. A BBC report (
https://tinyurl.com/MWSum251) highlights the risks posed by the Victorian’s love of the colour green, which was often achieved using arsenic-based paints and colourings. While it achieved the desired effect in terms of aesthetics, it has left an unwanted legacy of potentially dangerous items, including books. Now researchers at University of St Andrew’s Special Collections has come up with a new method to detect which books in the collection could post a threat. The result is a portable device, which can scan a book without damaging it and reveal whether any toxic elements were included. Dr Jessica Burge, deputy director of library and museums at the University of St Andrews, said: “We wanted to create something which was affordable and easy. It doesn’t require a specialist conservator or analysis, and it’s instant.”
Moving on to the opaque world of AI training data and the latest (and
Rewired 2025
Are AI authors taking over?
undoubtedly not the last) in legal action against big tech’s alleged reliance on copyrighted materials. The US court case is directed against Facebook owner Meta, and accuses the tech giant of fuelling its AI model using content from so-called “shadow library” LibGen, an anonymously run database that allegedly contains millions of pirated books. The Atlantic (
https://tinyurl.com/MWSum252) revealed that Meta has been accused of using content held on LibGen. Meta and OpenAI have both responded in court to accusations of using copyrighted content without permission (or payment), by claiming it is “fair use” because large language model AI transforms the work into something new.
Whether AI creates or recreates is a question that will long be debated, but for anyone who feels they can’t wait, The Daily Mail has a story that suggests AI is not just creating the books, its also creating the authors of the books. In the exclusive article, headlined The AI books in your libraries from authors that don’t actually exist... and how to detect them, the Mail reveals how Amazon is awash with books written by authors who are mere figments of AI’s imagination (https://
tinyurl.com/MWSum253).
The report says “Amazon is flooded with books written by AI, but a fake name and image show up on the book’s page so readers have no way of knowing that their digital book wasn’t written by a human being. For example, if a reader searches for diet cookbooks on Amazon, they may find titles written by an author named Stewart Brooks. The catch? There’s no online digital footprint for an author named Stewart Brooks other than his profiles on Amazon and Goodreads.” The report goes on to point out that some of these titles are making their way to online databases, including OneDrive and Hoopla. Jennie Pu, director of Hoboken Public Library in New Jersey, told the newspaper: “ We’re very hyper aware of this because we want to make sure that we’re providing quality human generated content,” adding: “Libraries have earned this position of respect in the community because we’ve been around for hundreds of years and we take our work very seriously.”
Both Hoopla and OneDrive said they have taken steps to remove AI generated books and have procedures in place to help libraries ensure they are getting the content they require.
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