Meta AI chief scientist, Yann LeCun, has come under fire for suggesting that authors should give their books away for free while his own book retails on Amazon for $20. The controversy began with LeCun’s post, where he stated, “Only a small number of book authors make significant money from book sales. This seems to suggest that most books should be freely available for download. The lost revenue for authors would be small, and the benefits to society large by comparison.”

It also comes as Meta is facing several copyright-related lawsuits for allegedly training their AI algorithms using books without permission.

Who is Meta’s chief AI scientist?

Yann LeCun, Chief AI Scientist at Facebook AI Research (FAIR) since 2013, concurrently serves as a part-time Silver Professor at NYU, associated with the Center for Data Science and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He holds an EE Diploma from ESIEE Paris and a PhD in Computer Science from Université Pierre et Marie Curie, completing his postdoc at the University of Toronto. 

LeCun worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories and was later head of the Image Processing Research Department at AT&T Labs-Research. Joining NYU in 2003, he was instrumental in establishing the NYU Center for Data Science, serving as its first director. As a co-director of the CIFAR Neural Computation and Adaptive Perception Program, his work significantly contributes to machine learning, artificial intelligence, and deep learning, particularly through the invention of convolutional networks. 

His accolades include membership in the US National Academy of Engineering, the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, numerous awards from IEEE, and the 2018 ACM Turing Award. His research spans computer vision, natural language understanding, robotics, and computational neuroscience. He is the author of several books including "Quand la machine apprend: La révolution des neurones artificiels et de l'apprentissage profond."

How have people responded?

The statement sparked immediate backlash, with Reid Southen criticising, “2024’s first garbage take. You should work for free because hey, you’re barely making any money anyway!” The Meta AI chief’s comments were in response to a Publisher’s Weekly article about an Author’s Guild survey which revealed that the median gross pre-tax income for authors from their books was $2,000 in 2022.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a renowned statistician and author, contested LeCun’s view, highlighting the statistical concept of skewness. “$2K is the MEDIAN not the MEAN. This logic implies selling tail options because they ‘only a small number’ pay off, or never insuring your house because…” Taleb argued, highlighting LeCun’s oversight of the potential for significant success some authors may achieve.

The debate extended to the value of even small earnings for authors. A user, @larry0x, noted, “$2,000 may be small for you but for the average people it can be a material amount that they can’t just give up without a second thought.” Additionally, the existence of libraries as a free model for accessing books was brought up.

In the wake of criticism, LeCun clarified his stance, arguing that many authors are motivated by intellectual contribution rather than income. He drew parallels with the open-source software movement, where contributions are often made freely.

Read: US judge dismisses parts of AI copyright lawsuit against Meta

“Computer scientists are familiar with the concept. It’s called open-source software. You give away your software for free. Sometimes, your employer pays you to do so. Sometimes, you just want to make a name for yourself by contributing to an important project,” LeCun explained.

However, this comparison was contested by others, like Florin Cojocariu or @aathanor, who argued that there is no parallel between open-source software and free books. Moreover, despite LeCun’s suggestion about free downloads increasing physical book sales, this theory has limited research support.

Read: More authors sue OpenAI and Meta over copyright due to training

A 2011 analysis, which monitored 41 books, indicated a potential link between the offering of free digital books and a rise in short-term print sales. The study, however, ultimately determined that providing free digital versions did not consistently result in higher print book sales.

The controversy highlights the complexities and nuances of the publishing industry, author income, and the value of intellectual work. It also points to the broader conversation about the accessibility of knowledge and the economic realities of creative pursuits.