Amazon, which started off selling books, is destroying rare texts to train AI | SpinGraph: Bad-actor framing
SpinGraph analysis of TechCrunch's Amazon, which started off selling books, is destroying rare texts to train AI story: bad-actor framing, The Shield + The Fog…
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Amazon, which started off selling books, is destroying rare texts to train AI
Amazon, rare books, LLM training, AI ethics
No evidence is presented that Amazon has destroyed any rare books for AI training. The claim appears to be an unsupported assertion with no attribution, documentation, or corroboration. The article conflates the theoretical value of rare texts for training with unverified destructive action by Amazon.
Emphasizes moral outrage and implied culpability; minimizes or omits evidentiary basis, timeline, mechanism, scale, or corroborating sources.
Amazon as a culturally destructive tech monopolist acting outside ethical guardrails.
Amazon is destroying rare books to train AI language models.
No mention of Amazon's actual data sourcing practices, archival partnerships, or opt-out mechanisms.; No distinction between digitization (non-destructive) and physical destruction.; No reference to libraries, institutions, or collectors involved — if any.
It combines morally loaded language ('destroying', 'rare texts') with a technically plausible premise (rare books are underrepresented in web training data) to create an intuitive-sounding but empirically empty accusation — leveraging cultural reverence for physical books to bypass evidentiary standards.
Amazon is destroying rare texts to train AI
Rare books are incredibly valuable for training LLMs, since these models have already trained on whatever's available online.