Feeding the Algorithm: Physical Books Sacrificed for the Next Generation of AI

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Tech Brewed. I’m your host, Greg Doig, and today we’re diving into a story that feels ripped from the pages of dystopian fiction but is playing out right now in 2026. AI companies are on a buying spree, snatching up physical books by the pallet—especially those published before 2022—just to slice off their spines, scan them, and then shred or pulp the originals, even for rare and irreplaceable editions. Why? Because in a web flooded with AI-generated fluff, these old books are now gold: pure, human, well-edited data for training tomorrow’s machines. The practice is sparking outrage across the board, with critics calling it a modern-day Library of Alexandria disaster. Today, we’ll dig into the trade-offs between digital progress and cultural heritage, the legal green lights making this possible, and the uneasy question: are we preserving knowledge, or erasing its last tangible traces? Support the show Subscribe to the weekly tech newsletter at https://gregdoig.com