ChatGPT Starts Blocking Direct Requests to Copy an Author's Style
OpenAI’s updated rules now refuse prompts to imitate living authors, a shift that follows concerns over copyright, unfair competition and style mimicry.
- ChatGPT has begun blocking user requests to generate text in the style of specific living authors, frustrating longtime users accustomed to the capability. A Reddit user wrote recently, "My prompts were soooo specific and I got exactly what I wanted out of them."
- Last year, author Lena McDonald faced widespread criticism when her book included AI-generated text stating, "I've rewritten the passage to align more with J. Bree's style." LLMs' penchant for style mimicry has caused prominent public issues.
- Not all major LLMs treat style imitation requests identically. Google's Gemini consistently complies with such requests, while Perplexity refuses them; Anthropic's Claude and Microsoft's Copilot comply but offer qualifications suggesting "an awareness of the imitation issue."
- The Authors Guild urges writers to "respect 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." Apart from ethical concerns, mimicking unique voices risks copyright infringement claims.
- When it comes to image generation, OpenAI prominently notes that its DALL model declines requests for an image in the style of a living artist. But the company's extensive model spec for written content lacks clear prohibitions against replicating style.
15 Articles
15 Articles
OpenAI has strengthened its filtering in ChatGPT to reject requests to imitate the writing style of specific authors. This measure, taken in response to legal risks stemming from copyright infringement lawsuits, is sparking controversy within the industry as the values of supporting user creativity and protecting copyrights clash.
ChatGPT now refuses to copy an author's style
Ask ChatGPT for a chapter in the voice of Stephen King and it now says no. It offers instead to write something with “the hallmarks of atmospheric, character-driven horror and small-town dread,” while staying “its own.” OpenAI has quietly changed how its chatbot handles author imitation, Ars Technica reported after testing it. The model declines […] This story continues at The Next Web
OpenAI Quietly Bans Author Mimicry in ChatGPT, but a Simple Loophole Remains
OpenAI has quietly altered ChatGPT so that it now rejects direct requests to mimic named authors, blocking prompts that ask for writing 'in the style of' famous writers while still allowing users to generate original work using similar techniques, tones and structures. A request that once produced a familiar creative experiment with ChatGPT now leads to a refusal. Ask the chatbot to write like Stephen King, J.K. Rowling or Ernest Hemingway, and …
According to the media, such a change could have legal significance for the chatbot developer, who is accused of copyright infringement while training models.
ChatGPT can no longer help rip off your favorite author
Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR ChatGPT now refuses requests to write in a famous author’s exact style. Instead, it offers original text inspired by an author’s broader characteristics. The change comes as OpenAI continues defending itself against multiple copyright lawsuits. OpenAI has quietly changed how ChatGPT responds to requests to write like famous authors. When you ask to copy a writer’s voice, the AI now declines the …
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