Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Meta Describes Books Used to Train AI as “Essentially Worthless”
Here’s a fun one: documents in a major copyright suit against Meta reveal that while the tech giant determined that books were essential for building their data models, “their defense also hinges on the argument that the individual books themselves are, essentially, worthless.” That is, any one book’s presence in or absence from the model is inconsequential, but the aggregate value of the thousands of books Meta allegedly pirated to train its LLMs is immense and irreplaceable. You can’t make the whole without the parts, but since the parts are apparently interchangeable (at least until they run out of books?), Meta doesn’t think it should have to pay for any of them.
As Vanity Fair‘s Kezieh Weir puts it, this is like a symphony board arguing that they shouldn’t have to compensate individual members of the orchestra because “a solo bassoon cannot play every part in “The Rite of Spring.”” It’s the kind of twisty logic that makes you understand why lawyer jokes are so popular and why Mark Zuckerberg is the most disliked public figure in American life.
Copyright law was complicated before AI, and it’s only going to be more complex as the law attempts to catch up with technology. I can’t begin to guess how this—and the 15+ other large cases about AI and copyright that are active right now—will be resolved under our existing legal standards (and under an administration whose relationship to ethics is, let’s say, flexible). May the plaintiffs’ efforts succeed.
ACLU Sues Defense Department Schools Over Book Bans
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia against a school system for children of military families that is run by the Department of Defense. Working on behalf of six families whose children attend DoD-operated schools, the ACLU alleges that the schools infringed on students’ First Amendment rights when they removed books—many of which addressed race and gender—in compliance with orders from the Trump administration. The suit also argues that “students are being denied access to certain topics that they need to learn to navigate the world and do well on future tests.” The Department of Defense has declined to comment on the case.
The Millions’ Great Spring 2025 Book Preview
A lot of things have changed in my 17 years on the bookternet, but the enduring appeal of The Millions‘ seasonal book previews isn’t one of them. The big spring list contains more than 100 titles from big names and small presses, highbrow to hard genre. Consistently one of the best-curated resources in the industry, it’s guaranteed to introduce you to something you haven’t heard of yet. May the odds be ever in your TBR’s favor.
A Bibliotherapist on How Books Can Heal
Emely Rumble, author of Bibliotherapy in the Bronx, dropped by the Book Riot Podcast this week to talk about the art and science of bibliotherapy. Check out her insights on how books can be used for personal and collective healing, social justice, and more.
Source : Meta Says Books Used to Train Its LLMs Are “Worthless”
