Notices by Lili Saintcrow (lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com), page 2

This "AI licensing" scheme is quite simply a protection racket. "Nice IP you've got there, would hate to have something scrape it..."

There's no need for this "licensing" chicanery. What's needed are *consequences for the thefts*.

This appears to be the same statement the Author's Guild was soliciting signatures for. While I no longer trust *them*, I do trust several others asking for signatures, like AALA, AAP, and fellow authors. So I'm adding my name to the effort.
https://www.aitrainingstatement.org

I draw a distinction between this statement and the "licensing" scheme run by techbro grifters ("Made By Humans") the Author's Guild has thrown their weight behind.

This statement is cut-and-dried. The "licensing" scheme bears a distinct resemblance to a protection racket.

We already had, and have, copyright. The "AI" theftbros knew what they were doing was illegal and unethical--it's why they aimed their plagiarism machines at pirate sites. Any "licensing" scheme which creates an additional burden on the artists already stolen from is unacceptable.

Not only that, but "AI" companies and their theftbro captains must pay, personally and at the corporate level, for the mass theft as well as the ecological damage they've forced on the rest of us.

There must be consequences, or they'll just keep taking.

So, while I'm signing this, I do not accept the mass theft and ecological damage as a fait accompli. If "AI" can't exist without stealing from artists and other labourers, then it doesn't *need* to exist.

The grift must be stopped, and restitution made.

That is all.

If you're looking for some weekend reading, my "accountant gets hold of a genie, hijinks ensue" romance--DESIRES, KNOWN--is $1.99USD in ebook until Monday. https://books2read.com/desiresknown?format=ebook

"There is a whole unseen world of chaos only visible to the lowest-paid in society, a community whose health is endangered to make spaces such as art galleries, concert halls, cinemas, libraries and bookshops pristine and delicious for the public."
https://granta.com/doing-the-work-grudova/

Decided I needed more coffee, left office. Halfway down hall was waylaid by Boxnoggin requiring skritch-cuddles. Went back to office, remembered I need coffee. Headed to kitchen, which was a disaster. Unloaded, re-loaded dishwasher. Dishwasher on, headed back to office.

Remembered I need coffee...

@cstross Okay, so is one of the prime payoffs for the grifters emotional, then? Duper’s delight?

@cstross Huh. Okay, I can see that. I’m trying to figure put where all the stolen wealth is *going*, because the theft is so massive.

@cstross Okay, but the actual money itself, where does that come to rest? Shareholders? Data centre landlords?

@cstross I’m not taking the piss here, I am genuinely curious and trying to find out where precisely all the acual money is going.

@daviddlevine @cstross If they vanish like that, are they real? I’m not being philosophical, I’m trying to understand the grift and its payoff.

@cstross @daviddlevine But at the same time, these people running the grift have to eat and sleep like the rest of us. And the theft of my work directly impacts my ability to pay my bills. So I’m wondering where it’s going, both physically and otherwise.

I know it’s not simple to follow the money, but figuring out where it actually comes to rest may prove…illuminating.

@MartyFouts Nope, it actually articulates it wonderfully well and usefully for me. Don’t apologise, please—I asked, and now I feel like I understand better.

@MartyFouts This parallels what a lot of other people are saying, thank you.

@sun And it doesn't bother you that it's a literal ecology-wrecking theft machine? And you think it's cool to swan into my mentions, as I'm one of the artists who's been stolen from?

Oh, wait. You probably used it to write this... "reply". Enjoy your block.

This might be a silly question, but instructive to think about: All these billions being poured into the “AI” grift, where are they *actually* ending up? Who—or what, in the case of a corporation—is actually *receiving* them?