Russian publisher AST begins using AI to flag “LGBT propaganda” in books, Stephen King’s “It” first to be reviewed

The Russian publishing house AST announced that it has recalled a print run of Stephen King’s novel It after receiving a complaint that the text contained depictions of “non-traditional relationships.” As AST CEO Tatyana Gorskaya told the state-run news agency TASS, “an entire batch of the novel was withdrawn. There was a complaint, and the Russian Book Union conducted a preliminary review. What were the complaints about? About noncompliance with current legislation.”

According to Gorskaya, It has been published in Russia for decades, and no one had examined it in detail for a long time. “Fortunately for us, there is now an opportunity to use artificial intelligence to check published books. We began using these technologies literally in the past few days. Although, of course, a real person — an expert — ultimately reviews and signs off on the results,” she said.

Gorskaya said that after the review is completed, the publisher will decide how to label King’s novel in accordance with Russian law. “If there are any serious, unacceptable violations, we will contact the rights holder directly to request permission to edit the text,” she explained.

AST’s press service announced on Nov. 20 that the print run of It had been temporarily pulled from sale, saying at the time that the recall was being undertaken in order “to update labeling requirements.” The state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the novel had already disappeared from major online marketplaces.

As The Insider previously reported, this is not AST’s first attempt to make use of AI technology. A likely previous attempt led to the publication of error-riddled works “written” by nonexistent authors.