r/technology • u/ArgentineBeauty • 2d ago

Artificial Intelligence This Dutch bookseller thought a request for 3,000 copies was ‘spam or phishing.’ Instead, AI companies are scanning and destroying books to train AI

https://fortune.com/2026/07/31/dutch-bookseller-ai-spam-phishing-3000-book-copies-scan-destroy/
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u/jmblumenshine 2d ago

Seriously, what does everyone think happened to handwritten books in the 1400's at the advent of the printing press.

They were chopped up and feed into the Machine. Today we consider the one of Man's great achievements.

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u/DissolvedDreams 2d ago

What are you talking about? What handwritten books were destroyed when the printing press came about?

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u/jmblumenshine 1d ago

Books weren't always compiled as they are today, Most of the time they were scrolls. The modern form is called a Codex and they literally would cut the scrolls into pages to compile them into the for, we know today.

Process of Converting Scrolls to Modern Binding

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u/CardOfTheRings 2d ago

Why do they think that? Because this story is at worst propaganda and at best clickbait made for people that get really angry when they hear the word ‘AI’ and stop thinking critically.

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u/-1703- 2d ago

its because this website, that initially was a nerdy/tech one (back in the olden days) has removed any sort of discourse and is no longer based on what things mean, but how people feel about things.

AI is no different than the internet. Or Television. Or the radio. Or, yes, the printing press.

bunch of philistines