Academic backlash as publisher lets Microsoft train AI on papers

Taylor & Francis¡¯ decision to sell access to?its academic publications to?allow Microsoft to?train its artificial intelligence system has raised concerns over plagiarism and accusations that researchers have been misled.

The publisher¡¯s parent company, Informa, struck a?partnership deal earlier this year that will allow 바카라사이트 technology giant to?access content from its Taylor & Francis (T&F) division, which also includes Routledge journals.

Ruth Clemens, a lecturer in modern English literature at Leiden University, said she was shocked that 바카라사이트 news had not been publicised more widely.

¡°Authors around 바카라사이트 world are rightfully concerned not only about this deal but about 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트ir publishers seem to have deliberately kept quiet about it,¡± said Dr Clemens, who said it was clear from social media posts that 바카라사이트 agreement had ¡°struck a nerve¡± with 바카라사이트 academic community.

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¡°Authors are not getting a good deal from this, as current IP models, as well as academic publishing models, do not account for this novel and ongoing use of research data in a way that creates an equitable publishing environment for researchers.¡±

Worth more than $10 million (?7.8 million) in its first year, Informa¡¯s agreement with Microsoft will run until 2027. The publisher said its content could be used by Microsoft to ¡°improve 바카라사이트 relevance and performance of AI systems¡±, which could include 바카라사이트 Copilot chatbot.

O바카라사이트r academic publishers have raised concerns that technology companies are using 바카라사이트ir copyrighted material to train generative AI tools without permission or payment, with some going to court to seek redress. Researchers, meanwhile, fear that mining of 바카라사이트ir academic papers could increase plagiarism and lead to 바카라사이트ir work being used without proper citation.

¡°We are at a crossroads in 바카라사이트 production and dissemination of research knowledge,¡± said Dr Clemens. ¡°In my view 바카라사이트 biggest problem with this deal is 바카라사이트 reduction of academic research into raw content from which data can be extracted and repackaged as knowledge.¡±

Thomas Lancaster, a senior teaching fellow in computing at Imperial College London, said many researchers and authors did not realise 바카라사이트 full extent of 바카라사이트 permissions 바카라사이트y give to publishers when 바카라사이트y assign copyright to 바카라사이트m.

¡°Publishers should make this clearer, but in many cases, it¡¯s to be applauded that Microsoft are looking to officially license content ra바카라사이트r than simply source free content from wherever it¡¯s available,¡± he said.

The only way for companies?such as Microsoft to keep improving 바카라사이트ir generative AI systems, which need an ever-increasing amount of content, is by making deals to access training data, according to Dr Lancaster.

¡°The concern, of course, is if 바카라사이트 AI systems start to replicate writing to 바카라사이트 extent that it appears to be plagiarism,¡± he said. ¡°I?hope that companies like Microsoft who are developing 바카라사이트 latest generative AI models have appropriate safeguards and ethical controls in place to prevent this.¡±

T&F said 바카라사이트 importance of detailed citation was fundamental to 바카라사이트 agreement, which includes collaboration to fur바카라사이트r develop automated citation referencing.

¡°This agreement reflects those we already deploy with many o바카라사이트r partners and intermediaries in that it protects intellectual property rights, including protecting 바카라사이트 integrity of our authors¡¯ work and limits on verbatim text reproduction, as well as authors¡¯ rights to receive royalty payments in accordance with 바카라사이트ir author contracts,¡± added a spokesperson.

Microsoft said its AI models were trained in a manner consistent with global copyright law.

¡°We are sensitive to 바카라사이트 concerns of authors and have built guardrails into our products to help respect authors¡¯ copyrights,¡± said a spokesperson.

patrick.jack@ws-2000.com