“What can computers do with books?” has been raging as a debate essentially since computers have existed, and the current AI-powered version of the argument contains exactly the same issues as ever. For example, when Amazon released the Kindle 2 in 2009, the Author’s Guild threatened to sue the company over the text-to-speech function, claiming it would steal audiobook revenues. Here’s the interview I did back then with Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, and his primary objection to the product:
You can look at it as the hybrid ebook / audiobook market, which is essentially now what Amazon has come out with — a hybrid ebook with a low quality audiobook packaged with it. It could be that you can take entire texts, run’em through text-to-speech software and create a quick audiobook that can be downloaded or sold as CDs.
Paul died in 2016; it’s safe to say he called this one perfectly.
