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Jürgen Hubert@juergen_hubert@mementomori.social
1d

So apparently #AI companies are buying old books at secondhand bookstores which aren't yet available in digital form, scan them in to feed their models, and then shred the books afterwards.

#books #bookstodon
https://www.tagesschau.de/kultur/ki-firmen-antiquarische-buecher-100.html

tagesschau.deKI-Firmen kaufen offenbar Antiquariate leer - Buchhändler alarmiertEs sind sonderbare Bestellungen: Massenweise werden in Antiquariaten innerhalb kürzester Zeit online Ladenhüter bestellt. Dahinter stecken vermutlich Firmen, die ihre KI trainieren. Nicht nur Buchhändler sind alarmiert. Von J. Büchsenmann.
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Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE@TimWardCam@c.im
16h

Replying to @juergen_hubert@mementomori.social

@juergen_hubert "It includes a scanner that reads individual pages of books at high speed. These pages were previously removed from bound books."

Other, non-destructive, scanning technologies exist, such as that used to create the Cambridge Library Collection. But the process costs more.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/publications/collections/cambridge-library-collection

Cambridge CoreCambridge Library CollectionWelcome to Cambridge Core
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Jürgen Hubert@juergen_hubert@mementomori.social
16h

Replying to @TimWardCam@c.im

@TimWardCam

And these organizations do not care about the physical books themselves, merely the information within.

Jul 5, 2026, 12:09 UTCen
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Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE@TimWardCam@c.im
16h

Replying to @juergen_hubert@mementomori.social

@juergen_hubert I can assure you that CUP cared about the physical books - the University Library wanted them back undamaged.

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Jürgen Hubert@juergen_hubert@mementomori.social
15h

Replying to @TimWardCam@c.im

@TimWardCam

I meant the AI companies who are buying those books from secondhand stores.

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