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AI companies are buying up old books to escape their own AI slop

AI companies are buying old printed books in bulk to source human-written training data, as the open web becomes saturated with AI-generated text that risks causing 'model collapse' when used to train new models.

read1 min views1 publishedJul 22, 2026

AI companies are facing a data problem of their own making: the open web is clogged with AI-generated text, and training new models on that sludge invites "model collapse," where machines degrade by eating their own output. One company is filling the need for human-written content by buying old printed books in bulk. — Read the rest

The post AI companies are buying up old books to escape their own AI slop appeared first on Boing Boing.

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