AI vs. Originality: Who Wins? 🤖✍️

Exploring the Impact of AI Systems on Original Content Creation

There’s a burgeoning debate around the way generative AI systems, developed by leading tech companies like Google and OpenAI, are using the top-quality content produced by news publishers for training. The concern is that these systems are then becoming contenders in a direct competition with the original content creators themselves – the publishers.

The News Media Alliance, a prominent trade association that stands for about 2,000 publishers from the United States and Canada, is a strong voice in this discourse. In a recently published report submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office’s Artificial Intelligence Study (in addition to an accompanying commentary), the Alliance makes a powerful argument encapsulating these concerns.

Why the Concern?

With giants like Bing Chat, Google Bard, and Google’s Search Generative Experience venturing into the AI landscape, publishers, irrespective of their size, have become increasingly wary. There’s a palpable fear that if such generative AI systems replace search, the brunt will be felt on the publishers’ traffic, revenue, and very importantly, their brand reputation.

The Position of News Media Alliance

The robust stand of the Alliance is reflected in the words of their President and CEO, Danielle Coffey. Speaking to the New York Times, Coffey asserts that the data that the report presents substantiates that the Alliance would indeed have a solid case if taken to court. “It genuinely acts as a substitution for our very work. You can see our articles are just taken and regurgitated verbatim,” she said prophetically.

The Response of Google and OpenAI

So far, neither Google nor OpenAI has come out with an official response to the issue at hand. What is known, however, is that Google upholds the belief that all internet content should be readily available for AI training unless there’s an explicit opt-out by the publishers. Notably, the New York Times was among the first to enforce this “opt-out” provision as they included a specific clause in their terms of service. This clause prohibits developers of AI systems from leveraging their content for training purposes.

Publisher’s Control Over Content Use

News publishers have certain rights to manage their content use. Web domains can block AI platforms like GPTBot, and a notable number of popular domains have enforced this opt-out. Content exclusion from Bing Chat is also an available choice. Unfortunately, there’s no apparent way to opt out from Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE). The only possible alternatives seem to be Bard, Vertex, and forthcoming models, via Google-Extended. However, excluding content from SGE would equate to shutting off Googlebot – a decision that would automatically result in removal from Google’s Search. This is hardly a solution that publishers would consider viable.

Delving Deeper

Interested in understanding generative AI and its functioning better? Stay tuned for more detailed information.

Originally published at Search Engine Land.

The AI Generation and News Content: Delving Deeper

While AI systems are creating a perilous battlefield for content publishers to navigate, it’s also vital to understand exactly how these systems function and threaten the revenue streams and reputation of those content creators.

How Generative AI Works

Generative AI systems, such as Google’s Search Generative Experience, essentially use massive amounts of data, including high-quality publisher content, to ‘learn’ language patterns, structures, and nuances. The sophisticated algorithms then replicate and generate fresh content, using the absorbed structures and patterns.

This content may seem original on the surface but is an AI-based regurgitation of the absorbed data – including the top-quality content curated painstakingly by news publishers.

The Threat to SEO

Moreover, the encroachment of generative AI on digital content realms presents a burgeoning issue for companies invested in SEO, especially for cities with a dense business landscape like Miami where local SEO is paramount. The SEO landscape, for example, which includes the sphere of website design, has significant dependence on original, quality content for its local SEO rankings.

Website Design and the AI Dilemma

For a website design firm or a marketing agency like MKTG Plan, the rising tide of AI-generated content represents a direct threat. Customized websites optimized for SEO rely significantly on unique, locally relevant content to drive traffic and push their clients’ websites to the top of the SERPS (Search Engine Result Pages). Generative AI, which utilizes and emulates this content, presents the risk of diluting the essence and uniqueness of such content, thereby impacting SEO results and traffic.

Conclusion: Risks and Responses

While the use of generative AI systems may prove beneficial for certain industries, the ensuing threat to content creators and various players in the world of SEO, including website design firms, cannot be disregarded. Marketing agencies like MKTG Plan and others are keeping a keen eye on these developments and working hard to adapt to these changes to maintain their strong presence in the industry.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is generative AI?

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence system that uses algorithms and a massive amount of data to learn language patterns, structures, and nuances, ultimately replicating and creating new content based on these patterns.

2. How can AI systems threaten the SEO industry?

AI-generated content, by utilizing and emulating existing quality content, can potentially dilute the uniqueness of original content. This can impact SEO results and organic traffic, posing a threat to companies investing heavily in SEO strategies.

3. What measures can be taken by publishers and websites against generative AI systems?

Currently, publishers have certain controls like blocking AI platforms or opting out from AI training. However, navigating this new AI dominated landscape will require more inclusive, international policy measures and possibly, legal action.