Latest news with #TheInterest
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Meta may have used books by Gerry Adams to train AI
Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams is among a number of authors whose books may have been accessed by technology company Meta to train their latest AI (artificial intelligence) model. Mr Adams said the books had "been used without his permission", and the matter is now with his solicitor. An investigation by The Atlantic magazine revealed Meta may have accessed millions of pirated books and research papers through LibGen - Library Genesis - to train its generative AI (Gen-AI) system, Llama. A spokesperson for Meta said: "We respect third-party intellectual property rights and believe our use of information to train AI models is consistent with existing law." The Atlantic magazine also published a database of books that had been pirated by LibGen, so many authors have been able to find out if their work appears on the site. When BBC News NI searched the database a number of authors from Northern Ireland appeared on the list, including Jan Carson, Lynne Graham, Deric Henderson, and Booker prize winner Anna Burns. Authors from around the world have been organising campaigns to encourage governments to intervene. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is currently defending a court case brought by multiple authors over the use of their work. Michael Taylor, a historian from Ballymena, said it is "infuriating" that Meta may have used his work. Two of his books, The Interest and Impossible Monsters, both appear on the LibGen database. "Writers spend years on their books, and contrary to what anybody thinks, very few people make enough money out of writing to live by their pen," he said. "Meta might be worth more than a trillion dollars, and it might be politically untouchable, but by violating the copyright of so many thousands of books, its actions amount to the single greatest and the most lucrative act of theft in history." Prof Monica McWilliams is an academic and former politician who has written extensively about the Northern Ireland peace process and domestic violence. More than 20 of her academic papers and books appear on the database, including those on intimate partner violence and domestic violence against women during conflict. She said when it came to her attention, she found it "quite shocking". "The first principle in the academic world is that you direct your reader to your source material, and that isn't happening here," she said. "It begs the question of what does copyright even mean anymore. Prof McWilliams donates the royalties from sales of her writing to domestic violence charities like Women's Aid. "If royalties are not being paid for the work to be used, then ultimately it is the charities that will lose out." Last week, authors gathered in London to protest against Meta's actions and high profile authors including Kate Mosse, Richard Osman, and Val McDermid signed an open letter calling on the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to bring Meta management to parliament. Posting on X, Richard Osman, who wrote the popular Thursday Murder Club series, said: "Copyright law is not complicated at all. If you want to use an author's work you need to ask for permission. "If you use it without permission you're breaking the law. It's so simple. "It'll be incredibly difficult for us, and for other affected industries, to take on Meta, but we'll have a good go!" Llama is a large language model, or LLM, similar to Open AI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. The systems are fed huge amounts of data and trained to spot patterns within it. They use this data to create passages of text by predicting the next word in a sequence. Despite the systems being labelled intelligent, critics argue LLMs do not "think", have no understanding of what they produce and can confidently present errors as fact. Tech companies argue that they need more data to make the systems more reliable, but authors, artists, and other creatives say they should pay for the privilege. 'We need to speak up': Authors protest against Meta training AI on their work
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
AI: Meta may have used Gerry Adams' books to train AI
Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams is among a number of authors whose books may have been accessed by technology company Meta to train their latest AI (artificial intelligence) model. Mr Adams said the books had "been used without his permission", and the matter is now with his solicitor. An investigation by The Atlantic magazine revealed Meta may have accessed millions of pirated books and research papers through LibGen - Library Genesis - to train its generative AI (Gen-AI) system, Llama.A spokesperson for Meta said: "We respect third-party intellectual property rights and believe our use of information to train AI models is consistent with existing law." The Atlantic magazine also published a database of books that had been pirated by LibGen, so many authors have been able to find out if their work appears on the BBC News NI searched the database a number of authors from Northern Ireland appeared on the list, including Jan Carson, Lynne Graham, Deric Henderson, and Booker prize winner Anna Burns. Authors from around the world have been organising campaigns to encourage governments to which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is currently defending a court case brought by multiple authors over the use of their work. 'Most lucrative act of theft in history' Michael Taylor, a historian from Ballymena, said it is "infuriating" that Meta may have used his work. Two of his books, The Interest and Impossible Monsters, both appear on the LibGen database. "Writers spend years on their books, and contrary to what anybody thinks, very few people make enough money out of writing to live by their pen," he said."Meta might be worth more than a trillion dollars, and it might be politically untouchable, but by violating the copyright of so many thousands of books, its actions amount to the single greatest and the most lucrative act of theft in history." Prof Monica McWilliams is an academic and former politician who has written extensively about the Northern Ireland peace process and domestic violence. More than 20 of her academic papers and books appear on the database, including those on intimate partner violence and domestic violence against women during said when it came to her attention, she found it "quite shocking"."The first principle in the academic world is that you direct your reader to your source material, and that isn't happening here," she said. "It begs the question of what does copyright even mean McWilliams donates the royalties from sales of her writing to domestic violence charities like Women's Aid. "If royalties are not being paid for the work to be used, then ultimately it is the charities that will lose out." Last week, authors gathered in London to protest against Meta's actions and high profile authors including Kate Mosse, Richard Osman, and Val McDermid signed an open letter calling on the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to bring Meta management to on X, Richard Osman, who wrote the popular Thursday Murder Club series, said: "Copyright law is not complicated at all. If you want to use an author's work you need to ask for permission."If you use it without permission you're breaking the law. It's so simple. "It'll be incredibly difficult for us, and for other affected industries, to take on Meta, but we'll have a good go!" What is Llama? Llama is a large language model, or LLM, similar to Open AI's ChatGPT and Google's systems are fed huge amounts of data and trained to spot patterns within it. They use this data to create passages of text by predicting the next word in a the systems being labelled intelligent, critics argue LLMs do not "think", have no understanding of what they produce and can confidently present errors as companies argue that they need more data to make the systems more reliable, but authors, artists, and other creatives say they should pay for the privilege.
The Guardian
30-03-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Drax of Drax Hall by Paul Lashmar review – forensic exposé of a British dynasty built on slavery
In his enthusiastic introduction to Paul Lashmar's Drax of Drax Hall, David Olusoga observes that Britain's role in slavery was, until recently, a 'terra incognita'. While a deeper reckoning seemed to have begun in the past few decades – statues toppled, archives scoured, reparations debated – the global rightward lurch has seen a renewed reluctance to connect past crimes with present privilege. Lashmar's book makes that connection impossible to ignore. Unlike broader studies of Britain's colonial economy, such as Matthew Parker's The Sugar Barons or Michael Taylor's The Interest (to both of which Lashmar acknowledges a great debt), Drax of Drax Hall narrows its focus to a single family, showing that the Drax dynasty did not just profit from slavery but pioneered its brutal processes. James Drax, the family's 17th-century patriarch, was not merely a plantation owner but the founder of a system of control and punishmen. Arriving in Barbados in 1627, he was instrumental in shifting the island's labour force from white indentured servants to enslaved Africans. By the 1640s, he had devised the plantation model that would dominate the Caribbean for centuries – a vast industrial machine, extracting staggering wealth through calculated cruelty. At the height of their power, the Draxes enslaved up to 330 people at any one time. The violence was staggering: life expectancy for the enslaved on the island was just five years. Lashmar makes clear that, while figures such as Clive or Rhodes may loom larger in the public imagination, James Drax deserves equal, if not greater, infamy as one of history's great profiteers of human misery. And yet, while slavery was abolished, the Drax fortune was not. Henry Drax, an 18th-century descendant, inherited not only land but a ruthless business acumen, ensuring the family's grip on power remained unbroken. When Britain compensated slave owners for their 'losses' in 1837, the Draxes collected more than £4,200 – a staggering sum at the time. With that money, they pivoted from colonial extraction to domestic consolidation, expanding their English holdings and further entrenching their wealth. The plantation may have been built in Barbados, but its profits were banked in Dorset and the City of London, where they remain to this day. Which brings us to Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, the latest in this long line of beneficiaries, who until 2024 was Britain's wealthiest MP (he lost his seat; the cash is still there). From his vast Charborough estate – surrounded by the so-called 'Great Wall of Dorset' – Drax built his career on Brexit and hard-right politics, railing against progressive taxation while presiding over a fortune directly linked to slavery. 'I can't be held responsible for something that happened 300 or 400 years ago,' he has insisted, yet he continues to reap its rewards. Now, as Barbados's prime minister, Mia Mottley, pushes for reparations and debates whether to seize Drax Hall – the family's still intact Caribbean plantation – Drax is resisting, hoping that Britain's role in slavery will once again fade into obscurity. Lashmar follows the money, tracing the profits from sugar plantations to country estates, from enslaved labour to inherited privilege. If the book has a flaw, it is its exhaustive approach – at times, the sheer number of minor Draxes can overwhelm. Drax of Drax Hall is not just a look into the dark sources of one family's fortune; it is an indictment of a nation's refusal to reckon with its past. Lashmar's book is a necessary, damning reminder that the ghosts of empire are not distant – they are living, breathing and, in some cases, still collecting rent. Drax of Drax Hall: How One British Family Got Rich (and Stayed Rich) from Sugar and Slavery by Paul Lashmar is published by Pluto (£25). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at Delivery charges may apply
