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Remember when you could ask ChatGPT to pen a dramatic email in the style of George R R Martin? Well, those days are quietly coming to an end.
When the chatbot launched four years ago, it boasted the ability to mimic renowned writers like Stephen King and JK Rowling.
However, this neat party trick quickly led to allegations that OpenAI had illegally trained its large language model (LLM) on copyrighted materials, resulting in a wave of lawsuits from living authors and book publishers.
Today, ChatGPT will refuse to mimic the tone of authors whose works are still protected by copyright
If you try prompting the AI to write like JK Rowling, Stephen King, or George R R Martin today, it will politely decline.
The restriction even applies to the local literary scene, as the chatbot currently refuses to replicate the distinct style of some Malaysian writers like Ahadiat Akashah.
According to a report by ArsTechnica, an OpenAI representative declined to explain why this feature was abruptly pulled without an official announcement.
It is highly likely that this sudden shift is a direct response to the mounting legal battles OpenAI is currently navigating.
Yet, the new guardrails are surprisingly inconsistent across the board, according to Amanz.
However, the chatbot still appears to imitate other living writers like Ramlee Awang Murshid, A Samad Said, and Hilal Asyraf
All three local authors are alive and hold the copyrights to their respective works.
