404 Media on Hoopla's AI Generated Content

In “AI-Generated Slop Is Already In Your Public Library,” 404 Media’s Emanuel Maiberg explores how “Low quality books that appear to be AI generated are making their way into public libraries via their digital catalogs, forcing librarians who are already understaffed to either sort through a functionally infinite number of books to determine what is written by humans and what is generated by AI, or to spend taxpayer dollars to provide patrons with information they don’t realize is AI-generated.”

[Disclosure 1: I am cited in the article.]

We at RF have commented on this problem before. It is good to see it get wider attention. It should be noted that many librarians have taken up the matter with Midwest Tapes (provider of Hoopla) rather than seek a media outlet. We’ve basically been told that we can suppress content if we want—just say what. That’s not good enough.

It should also be noted that we in libraries are not against Indie authors and small-publisher provided content. Far from it. They represent one of the best ways for libraries to provide quality content at sustainable prices in an ecosystem where the big publishers make collection tough for us. But the AI content should only be made available as on option, not the default. Of course, few (no?) libraries would choose it.

[Disclosure 2: I was an early tester of Hoopla and provide one of their first public library endorsements. I’m not down on Hoopla. But they seem to have lost their way.]

RF sends a big thanks to Jennie Rose Halperin and the good folks at Library Futures who have worked to bring attention to the problem.

If you are concerned about the problem and are a Hoopla customer, why not talk with your rep about it?