A Reddit post from five days ago has writers talking after one user found that ChatGPT no longer accepts requests to copy the writing style of well known authors.
Posting on the WritingWithAI subreddit, a user said they had spent months using the chatbot to help write a book before finding the restriction after returning from a break.
They wrote, 鈥淚鈥檝e been writing my book for several months now, paid for a more advanced model. Took a break. Came back. Now Ms. GPT says she can鈥檛 generate content in the style of specific authors. My prompts were soooo specific and I got exactly what I wanted out of them.
鈥淔or example, 鈥榬ewrite in the literary style of 鈥榓uthor here鈥� with abundant dialogue and detail avoiding staccato prose鈥�. That was my go-to. Or 鈥榩lease write and flesh out in the style of 鈥榓uthor鈥� etc. they tightened the ropes. I have no idea how to get around this other than maybe feed it prose I already edited that鈥檚 technically mine?鈥�
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So, What Happens If You Ask ChatGPT Today?
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According to Ars Technica, ChatGPT now refuses requests to write in the exact style of famous authors. It tells users it can write using the broad qualities of a writer鈥檚 work without copying their distinctive voice.
When Ars Technica asked for the opening of a story in the style of Stephen King, ChatGPT replied, 鈥淚 can definitely write with the hallmarks of atmospheric, character driven horror and small town dread, but I can鈥檛 write in Stephen King鈥檚 exact style or closely imitate his distinctive voice. Here鈥檚 an original opening that captures a similar feeling while remaining its own鈥︹��
The publication found the chatbot gave the same type of replies for living authors such as J.K. Rowling and Amy Tan, along with deceased writers including Charles Dickens and Ernest Hemingway.
Earlier this month, analysis from No Latency found ChatGPT refused requests involving living authors but accepted style copying requests for deceased authors. Ars Technica found the chatbot now gives the same type of refusal across both groups.
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Why Is This Important News?
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The wording may look like a small adjustment, but it could become important in copyright disputes because right now, OpenAI is defending lawsuits from authors who claim the company used copyrighted books to train its AI models. One lawsuit mentioned in the Ars Technica report refers to ChatGPT鈥檚 鈥渦ncanny ability to generate text similar to that found in copyrighted textual materials.鈥�
Under US copyright law, protection usually applies to the specific expression of an idea instead of an author鈥檚 style on its own. Even then, AI generated writing could become a legal issue if it is considered substantially similar to an original work.
George Washington University Law School professor Robert Brauneis explained the difference to Bloomberg Law.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never had a situation in which this personal style of individual creators could be imitated as well and as inexpensively as we now have with AI,鈥� he said.
The Authors Guild has also published best practices for writers using generative AI. The document says, 鈥淩espect your fellow authors and do not use generative AI to purposely copy or mimic the unique styles, voices, or other distinctive attributes of other writers鈥� works in ways that harm the value of their works or attempt to profit from them. Apart from the ethical issues, mimicking a fellow writer鈥檚 unique voice or style could subject you to claims of unfair competition or copyright infringement.鈥�
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Do Other AI Chatbots Do The Same hing?
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Ars Technica reports that ChatGPT is not alone, but AI companies have not all gone the same way.
No Latency found Google鈥檚 Gemini accepted requests to copy an author鈥檚 style. Perplexity AI refused those requests and redirected users in the same way as ChatGPT. Anthropic鈥檚 Claude and Microsoft鈥檚 Copilot accepted style copying requests, but both added comments recognising that the request could have legal questions.
OpenAI already has a policy for images since its DALL路E 3 model is designed to refuse requests for images in the style of a living artist so this would be the first official policy for written prompts.
