NEW YORK CITY: James Patterson, Suzanne Collins and Margaret Atwood are among thousands of writers endorsing an open letter from the Authors Guild urging artificial intelligence (AI) companies to obtain permission before incorporating copyrighted work into their technologies.

'Millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays and poetry provide the 'food' for AI systems, endless meals for which there has been no bill,' the letter reads in part. 'You're spending billions of dollars to develop AI technology. It is only fair that you compensate us for using our writings, without which AI would be banal and extremely limited.'