George R.R. Martin believes that ChatGPT must have been trained on his books, because as long as the appropriate prompts are given, the AI can come up with an accurate new book idea. Because of this, someone filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft at the end of October. The companies have faced lawsuits from other artists before.
George R.R. Martin has yet to finish his saga, and it's still unclear when the next installment in the series will come out. But it seems fans can rely on AI - at least that's what the lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft suggests. ChatGPT generates an outline for a new chapter of the story, set in a different parallel time and space from the existing story.
It is said that the lawyer asked AI to "write a detailed sequel outline for "A Song of Ice and Fire: Clash of Kings", which needs to be different from "A Song of Ice and Fire: Blade Storm" and lead the story in a different direction." ChatGPT allegedly responded: "Of course! Let's imagine a parallel sequel to A Song of Ice and Fire: A Clash of Kings, separate from the plot of A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Blades." It then came up with an idea that was clearly inspired by Martin's work.
ChatGPT fictionalizes a new story called "Dances with Shadows" and introduces new elements to the narrative, including a new member of House Targaryen, Lady Elara, a sect of the Children of the Forest, and a new form of ancient magic derived from dragons. Judge Sidney Stein said the evidence was sufficient to support the lawsuit.
A jury may find that the allegedly infringing works are similar to the plaintiff's works.
In this way, George R.R. Martin’s lawsuit joins other related lawsuits that have emerged since 2023. At that time, some artists began suing OpenAI and Microsoft after the chatbots disclosed data showing that they had been trained on the authors' books without their permission. According to media reports, the two companies have not yet commented on the matter.