The CEO of Barnes & Noble has the daunting task of defending the sale of AI-written books.
Many are accusing James Daunt of favoring profit over integrity, per the Daily Wire.
“I have actually no problem selling any book, as long as it doesn’t masquerade or pretend to be something that it isn’t, and that it has an essential quality to it, and that the customer, the reader, wants it,” Daunt said during an interview with Jenna Bush Hager during a recent “Today” show appearance
“So as long as an AI-written book says it’s an AI-written book and doesn’t pretend to be something else and isn’t ripping off somebody else, as long as that’s clearly stated and the customer wants to buy it, then we will stock them,” he added.
The CEO mentioned some books currently on the market probably use AI.
“We have 300,000 titles across all of our stores. Do we think that some of those may be AI? The chances are that they are, but we’re not really conscious of them,” Daunt said.
Daunt also said it’s not a big deal for now.
“At the moment, it seems unlikely to us that these AI-generated books are going to get much commercial traction. So I think it’s something that one should treat with common sense and acceptance, but not allow anything to masquerade,” he continued.
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Some, however, do not agree with Daunt’s assessment.
“I will stop shopping at Barnes and Noble and I hope everyone else does too. AI is NOT the future,” one posted on X.
“Sorry, but ethics has a place in business, and selling works generated off the THEFT of other people’s work is UNETHICAL. For shame!” another wrote.
“The point of a bookstore is discovering human thought. Real stories. Real suffering. Real imagination. Replacing authors with machines because it’s cheaper is how civilizations become hollow,” another said.
