Owing to the proliferation of large language models throughout our software and social systems, we are now undergoing a textpocalypse, marked by not just a deluge of slop but a fundamental unmooring of language and text from lived human experience. The first victim is likely to be the internet itself.
CHARLOTTESVILLE—At the steamy height of summer, journalists at 404 Media ran a story about a damning page (since removed) they had discovered on the website of ISBNdb, a company that brokers bulk purchases of physical books. ISBNdb has been around since 2001, and its customers have traditionally included libraries, booksellers, government agencies, and educational institutions. But according to the evidence unearthed by 404 Media, those customers may now also include major tech and AI corporations. A statement on the now-absent page informs prospective clients that “books represent curated, peer-reviewed, domain-specific human knowledge, structured in a way no web crawl can replicate.”
CHARLOTTESVILLE—At the steamy height of summer, journalists at 404 Media ran a story about a damning page (since removed) they had discovered on the website of ISBNdb, a company that brokers bulk purchases of physical books. ISBNdb has been around since 2001, and its customers have traditionally included libraries, booksellers, government agencies, and educational institutions. But according to the evidence unearthed by 404 Media, those customers may now also include major tech and AI corporations. A statement on the now-absent page informs prospective clients that “books represent curated, peer-reviewed, domain-specific human knowledge, structured in a way no web crawl can replicate.”