In April 2025, authors and publishing professionals gathered in London to protest against the use of their work by artificial intelligence companies without authorization. The controversy centers on AI models that have been trained on millions of written works, including novels and textbooks, raising significant copyright concerns within the literary community.

Earlier this year, approximately 10,000 authors, among them Kazuo Ishiguro, Jeanette Winterson, and Richard Osman, jointly published an “empty” book as a symbolic protest against the unauthorized use of their work by AI systems. This action highlighted the growing unease among writers about the expanding role of AI in creative industries.

The dispute escalated when five major publishers, including Hachette and Macmillan, filed a lawsuit against Meta. The lawsuit alleges that Meta’s Llama AI model was trained using millions of copyrighted materials without permission, constituting copyright infringement. Meta has denied these allegations, maintaining that it acted within legal boundaries.

Among the writers affected is author Horowitz, who acknowledges that his novels were likely used in the training of AI models. He expressed a pragmatic view on the issue, suggesting that attempts to resist such use would be futile given the pervasiveness of compromised content in everyday life. “If you ran your life that way, you wouldn’t eat anything. You wouldn’t wear anything. You wouldn’t really do anything because every single thing that we have around us is in some way compromised," he said. Nevertheless, Horowitz conveyed empathy for fellow authors concerned about unauthorized use of their work.

Regarding fears that AI could replace human authors entirely, Horowitz dismissed these concerns. He argued that AI cannot match the quality and nuance of human creativity, stating simply, “We are better than AI.”

The ongoing legal and ethical debate underscores the complex challenges facing the publishing industry as it navigates the rapid integration of artificial intelligence technologies. Authors, publishers, and technology companies continue to grapple with balancing innovation and intellectual property rights in an evolving landscape.