AI companies use physical book destruction for data training

Artificial intelligence companies, such as Anthropic, are engaging in a process described as the destruction of physical books to facilitate the training of large language models (LLMs). This process involves the industrial-scale unbinding and shredding of physical books so their pages can be scanned and converted into digital data sets.

While historical book burnings were often driven by political ideology, this contemporary practice is conducted under the guise of knowledge production and preservation. Critics argue that this treats books merely as containers for raw data, potentially undermining the physical medium as a primary artifact of human memory and consciousness.