Taylor & Francis sells access to authors' research to Microsoft AI without consent

P ublisher Taylor & Francis sold the research of their authors to Microsoft as part of an AI partnership without informing them, giving them an opportunity to opt-out or receive extra payment. Worth almost GBP 8 million (USD 10 million) in its first year, the deal had been included (pdf) in a trading update by the publisher’s parent company Informa, and providing Microsoft non-exclusive access to advanced learning content and data to enhance its AI systems. Taylor & Francis author D r. Ruth Alison Clemens said “I only found out about this via word of mouth in the past few days. I was shocked that they had not publici s ed this more widely to their authors, as the use of AI and LLMs is a prominent concern for academic researchers today.” The controversy raised questions about about fairness and equitable compensation, and about Taylor & Francis' transparency - t he company failed to explain whether an opt-out policy exists or could be implemented, leaving authors uncertain about their rights and options . It also highlighted broader concerns about the reduction of academic research into raw data for AI systems and the pe rceived and actual integrity and value of scholarly work , and the professional futures of researchers. System 🤖 Microsoft Copilot chatbot Multiple Operator: Microsoft Developer: Informa/Taylor & Francis Country: Global Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts Purpose: Train AI models Technology: Database/dataset Issue: Copyright; Ethics/values; Transparency

Date it happened

2024-07-01

Organisation involved

Microsoft

Product, system or model

Multiple

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