cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/74448280
cross-posted from: https://kbin.earth/m/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com/t/3120649
As AI tech companies increasingly buy and destroy books to feed to their AI models, Anna’s Archive is calling for volunteers to help preserve them for the public record.
A book from 1920 will probably not get printed again
…why not?
If it hasn’t been printed more than once in a literal century, is that really a loss?
Potentially, yes. Sure, it could just be some smut novel, but it could also provide insight into a certain group or people’s perspective on societal/political events at the time, contributing to a better painted big picture on an event we thought we knew all there is to know about.
A very recent example is the VHS tapes that contained unseen and unpublished footage of Tiananmen Square.