For those just learning about LibGen because of the reporting on Meta and other companies training LLMs on pirated books, I’d highly recommend the book Shadow Libraries (open access: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edited…).

I just read it while working on the Wikipedia article about shadow libraries, and it’s a fascinating history. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_l…

I fear the already fraught conversations about shadow libraries will take a turn for the worse now that it’s overlapping with the incredibly fraught conversations about AI training.

#AI #LibGen #OpenAccess