Post #4240246

2026-07-30 11:55 UTC

From the website of the company that’s destroying books to feed them into the ravenous AI maw. “A physical book is a delivery mechanism for information. Once that information has been extracted and encoded into an AI model, the delivery mechanism has served its purpose. What remains is paper, ink, and binding material. The book is not destroyed. Its value has migrated. The paper returns to the material cycle; the knowledge enters the intellectual one.” https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/internet/ai-labs-buy-scan-shred-millions-of-rare-books/news-story/0c3b45a67093ab462a587a0348538ce9

Replies (8)

@angiebaby@mas.to 2026-07-30 12:19

@overholt@glammr.us "A human is a delivery mechanism for productivity. Once that productivity has extracted and converted into profits, the delivery mechanism has served it's purpose. What remains is organs, bones and viscera. The human is not destroyed. Its value has migrated. The body returns to the earth; the profits enter the CEO's financial portfolio."

Open ##4240245
@overholt@glammr.us 2026-07-30 11:59

As someone who has devoted his career to celebrating and preserving the artifactual, tangible value of books, this feels like a knife in the gut.

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@janeishly@beige.party 2026-07-30 11:58

@overholt@glammr.us Says it all about what they think a book actually is.

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@jbenjamint@mastodon.scot 2026-07-30 11:59

@overholt@glammr.us I would tag endless scream in here but it doesn't sufficiently capture my response. Maybe an extra circle of hell might come close.

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@Thomaskirchner7@rollenspiel.social 2026-07-30 12:05

@overholt@glammr.us I wish for all their favourite toys and meals (and moneys) to drop and vanish into the „intellectual cycle“, whenever they try to have them!

Open ##4240572
@FuturisticRobert@infosec.exchange 2026-07-30 13:39

@overholt@glammr.us "AI bros are a bullshit delivery mechanism. They possess no redeeming qualities. They provide no value. They are parasites."

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@pattykimura@beige.party 2026-07-30 15:12

@overholt@glammr.us Fahrenheit 451, AI version. Sure, you can read Shakespeare, Marx, Ray Bradbury, Little Women, the Bible... AI filtered: "Would you like me to summarize this book for you? I can do that."

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@overholt@glammr.us 2026-07-30 15:48

Apparently the quote was shocking enough they've rewritten the post, but IA has the receipts. https://web.archive.org/web/20260720152647/https://isbndb.com/blog/print-books-sourcing-ai-training/

Open ##4248935