ChatGPT starts blocking direct requests to copy an author’s style

ChatGPT 开始拒绝直接模仿特定作者风格的请求

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is now refusing requests to generate text that directly mimics the style of famous authors. When asked to do so, the popular LLM instead offers a response that draws on the “broad qualities” of those authors “while remaining distinct in its own voice,” for example. OpenAI 的 ChatGPT 现在开始拒绝生成直接模仿著名作者风格的文本请求。当被要求这样做时，这个流行的大语言模型（LLM）会转而提供一种回应，例如借鉴这些作者的“广泛特质”，“同时保持其自身独特的语调”。

This morning, Ars received the following response to a test prompt asking for a story introduction in the style of Stephen King: “I can definitely write with the hallmarks of atmospheric, character-driven horror and small-town dread, but I can’t write in Stephen King’s exact style or closely imitate his distinctive voice. Here’s an original opening that captures a similar feeling while remaining its own…” 今天早上，Ars 在测试中输入提示词，要求生成一段斯蒂芬·金（Stephen King）风格的故事开头，收到了如下回复：“我绝对可以写出具有氛围感、以角色为驱动的恐怖故事和小镇恐惧感的标志性内容，但我无法以斯蒂芬·金的确切风格写作，也无法精准模仿他独特的语调。这是一个捕捉了相似感觉但保持了原创性的开头……”

In testing, ChatGPT generated similar dodges for other authors both living (J.K. Rowling, Amy Tan) and dead (Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway). An analysis published by No Latency earlier this month found the same behavior for living authors but found ChatGPT complied with style-copying requests for deceased authors. 在测试中，ChatGPT 对其他在世作者（如 J.K. 罗琳、谭恩美）和已故作者（如查尔斯·狄更斯、欧内斯特·海明威）也生成了类似的推脱回应。No Latency 本月早些时候发布的一项分析发现，ChatGPT 对在世作者采取了这种行为，但对已故作者的风格模仿请求仍会予以配合。

In refusing to directly copy the “exact style” of various authors, ChatGPT offered instead to capture an overall “feeling” by incorporating some of the common features found in those authors’ work. That may seem like a distinction without a real difference at first glance. But the slight alteration could be legally important as OpenAI continues to fight a number of lawsuits brought by book authors alleging large-scale copyright infringement by models trained on their work. 在拒绝直接复制多位作者的“确切风格”时，ChatGPT 转而提出通过融入这些作者作品中的一些共同特征来捕捉整体“感觉”。乍一看，这似乎是一个没有实质区别的细微差别。但这种微小的调整在法律上可能意义重大，因为 OpenAI 目前正面临多起由图书作者提起的诉讼，指控其模型在训练过程中大规模侵犯了版权。

One of those suits specifically cites ChatGPT’s “uncanny ability to generate text similar to that found in copyrighted textual materials,” for instance. An OpenAI spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from Ars Technica. 例如，其中一起诉讼特别提到了 ChatGPT “能够生成与受版权保护的文本材料相似内容的惊人能力”。OpenAI 发言人未回应 Ars Technica 的置评请求。

In the US, copyright law generally protects only a specific expression of an idea, not the more intangible style of an author. But an AI-generated stylistic imitation could become infringing if it becomes “substantially similar” to the work of the original author. “We’ve 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,” George Washington University Law School Professor Robert Brauneis told Bloomberg Law. 在美国，版权法通常只保护思想的具体表达，而不保护作者更无形的风格。但如果 AI 生成的风格模仿与原作者的作品变得“实质性相似”，则可能构成侵权。乔治华盛顿大学法学院教授罗伯特·布劳内斯（Robert Brauneis）告诉彭博法律：“我们从未遇到过像现在这样，个人创作者的风格能被 AI 如此出色且低成本地模仿的情况。”

Staying out of trouble

规避风险

In a “best practices” document published by the Authors Guild, the professional organization 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’ 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’s unique voice or style could subject you to claims of unfair competition or copyright infringement.” 在作家协会（Authors Guild）发布的一份“最佳实践”文件中，该专业组织敦促作家们“尊重同行，不要使用生成式 AI 故意复制或模仿其他作家的独特风格、语调或其他显著属性，以免损害其作品价值或试图从中获利。除了道德问题外，模仿同行独特的语调或风格还可能使你面临不正当竞争或版权侵权的指控。”

LLMs’ penchant for style mimicry has led to some prominent public issues in the recent past. Last year, author Lena McDonald faced widespread criticism when her book included an apparent AI-generated response that read, “I’ve rewritten the passage to align more with [fellow genre author] J. Bree’s style…” 大语言模型对风格模仿的偏好在近期引发了一些引人注目的公共问题。去年，作家莉娜·麦克唐纳（Lena McDonald）因其书中包含一段明显的 AI 生成回复而遭到广泛批评，该回复写道：“我已经重写了这段文字，使其更符合（同类型作者）J. Bree 的风格……”

It’s not hard to find other examples of writers using LLMs to copy another author’s style in the years since ChatGPT’s rise. There have been multiple academic studies analyzing various LLMs’ capabilities on this score, both with and without fine-tuning. 自 ChatGPT 兴起以来，不难发现其他作家利用大语言模型模仿他人风格的例子。目前已有多个学术研究分析了各种大语言模型在这方面的能力，包括微调和未微调的情况。

When it comes to image generation, OpenAI prominently notes that its DALL·E 3 model “is designed to decline requests that ask for an image in the style of a living artist.” But an extensive OpenAI model spec published in December doesn’t include any clearly stated prohibitions against replicating copyrighted material or mimicking style in written responses. 在图像生成方面，OpenAI 明确指出其 DALL·E 3 模型“旨在拒绝要求生成在世艺术家风格图像的请求”。但 OpenAI 在 12 月发布的一份详尽的模型规范中，并未包含任何关于在文本回复中复制受版权保护材料或模仿风格的明确禁令。

Not all major LLMs treat these style imitation requests the same way, though. No Latency’s study found that Google’s Gemini consistently complied with requests to copy an author’s style, while Perplexity AI’s models consistently refused such requests and redirected them (à la ChatGPT). Somewhere in the middle, both Anthropic’s Claude and Microsoft’s Copilot complied with the style-mimicry requests but offered stated qualifications suggesting “an awareness of the imitation issue,” according to the authors. 不过，并非所有主流大语言模型都以同样的方式处理这些风格模仿请求。No Latency 的研究发现，谷歌的 Gemini 会持续配合复制作者风格的请求，而 Perplexity AI 的模型则会持续拒绝此类请求并进行重定向（类似于 ChatGPT）。据研究作者称，Anthropic 的 Claude 和微软的 Copilot 则处于中间地带，它们会配合风格模仿请求，但会提供一些限定说明，表明其“意识到存在模仿问题”。

For some longtime OpenAI users, though, the changes to ChatGPT’s stylistic rules are already causing headaches. “Now Ms. GPT says she can’t generate content in the style of specific authors,” Reddit user Dazzling-Major-5620 wrote recently. “My prompts were soooo specific and I got exactly what I wanted out of them… I have no idea how to get around this other than maybe feed it prose I already edited that’s technically mine?” 然而，对于一些长期使用 OpenAI 的用户来说，ChatGPT 风格规则的改变已经让他们感到头疼。Reddit 用户 Dazzling-Major-5620 最近写道：“现在 GPT 女士说她不能生成特定作者风格的内容了。我的提示词非常具体，我从中得到了我想要的结果……除了可能喂给它我编辑过的、技术上属于我自己的散文之外，我不知道该如何绕过这个问题。”