Sarah Silverman Takes Legal Action Against AI-Powered Chatbot for Unauthorized Use of Her Book

Comedian Sarah Silverman has filed a lawsuit against the creator of ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot, for unauthorized use of her 2010 book “The Bedwetter.” Silverman’s lawyers filed the lawsuit in a U.S. District Court on Friday.

The lawsuit is one of several copyright suits filed by professional and amateur writers against corporations that use open-source AI models. The suits accuse the companies of training their models on content from unauthorized online “shadow libraries” like Library Genesis and Z-Library, which the documents describe as “flagrantly illegal.”

Silverman, an Emmy-winning performer and former cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” is the latest content creator to take legal action over so-called large language models (LLM). LLMs are used to power “generative” AI apps such as ChatGPT, and they develop their functionality by “training” on vast amounts of written and other content.

The lawsuits allege that the companies are using the writers’ copyrighted material without their consent. The writers are seeking damages and an injunction to prevent the companies from continuing to use their content.

The legal action is part of a growing trend of content creators taking a stand against the unauthorized use of their work. As AI technology continues to develop, it is becoming increasingly important for content creators to protect their intellectual property.