Microsoft deletes blog telling users to train AI on pirated Harry Potter books (arstechnica.com)

Microsoft recently removed a blog post that controversially suggested developers train AI models using pirated Harry Potter books after facing backlash from the online community. Authored by senior product manager Pooja Kamath, the post was intended to showcase a new feature for integrating generative AI into applications easily. This blog proposed using the Harry Potter series, cited for its popularity, as a dataset to create engaging AI-driven experiences, such as Q&A systems and fan fiction generation. However, it directed users to a Kaggle dataset that was mischaracterized as public domain, raising significant copyright concerns. The incident highlights the ethical responsibilities tech companies face regarding intellectual property in AI training datasets. Despite the dataset's long-standing presence on Kaggle with limited downloads, the lack of attention from copyright holders like J.K. Rowling is a reminder of the risks associated with using proprietary works without permission. The rapid removal of the dataset following media inquiries underscores the delicate balance between innovation in AI/ML applications and adherence to copyright laws, a growing concern in the AI community as more developers seek to leverage existing literary works for training their models.