Hoopla to Do More to Combat AI Slop

It's a small victory, but we'll take it.

Hoopla, the service that's become a public library mainstay for ebooks, has agreed to do more to curb the rampant proliferation of AI slop on its platform. This matters for libraries because they end up paying for what members check out, and if members are checking out junk, often AI-generated summaries of books they're actually looking for, then the libraries' (and therefore our) money is being wasted.

I linked to this story two weeks ago, when I first read about the problem in some reporting from 404 Media.

I was thrilled to find in my email this morning an update from 404 Media that was a much-deserved (though still small) victory lap: Their reporting had helped bring about action.

Public Library Ebook Service to Cull AI Slop After 404 Media Investigation

Hoopla has emailed librarians saying it’s removing AI-generated books from the platform people use to borrow ebooks from public libraries.

404 MediaEmanuel Maiberg

It's a not a total shock that journalism can still do some good in the world, but it's a nice reminder.

From the story:

While the exact details of the plan Hoopla is putting together to prevent low quality AI-generated books from flooding its platform are still not clear, Hoopla emailed librarians again on February 14 to share more information on actions it has already implemented. This includes revising its “collection development policy to ensure we adhere to and evolve with industry best practices,” offering librarians better ways to manage the Hoopla catalog by contacting Hoopla directly, and the removal of all “summary titles from all vendors, with some exceptions,” such as HMH Books, the publisher of the popular CliffNotes series. 404 Media also obtained a copy of this second email.

Shoutout to 404 Media for making the world a slightly better place.