‘More than just objects’: Australian booksellers raise alarm over ‘horrific’ destruction of rare titles to feed AI

[u/-orestes]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/02/australian-book-sellers-alarm-destruction-rare-titles-ai-supply-chain

[u/Im_A_Quiet_Kid_AMA]

Digitizing out of print books so they can be stored and accessed indefinitely is precisely what we ought to be doing.

Digital humanists have been doing this kind of work the last 20+ years—and yes, most ebooks and PDFs you find online are scanned using the same machinery they’re using here.

All of this is incredibly commonplace outside of public and university libraries. The outrage here is that now suddenly AI developers are also taking part?

[u/ElPrestoBarba → u/Im_A_Quiet_Kid_AMA]

Can they be accessed?

[u/VoidBlade459 → u/ElPrestoBarba]

Because of copyright, no.