The Dark Side of AI Training
Large language models are trained on a vast amount of data, much of which was collected without anyone’s knowledge or consent. This raises important questions about the ethics of data collection and the use of that data for training AI models.
Allowing Google to Use Your Content
As a web publisher, you have a choice to make: allow your content to be used by Google as material to feed its Bard AI and any future models it decides to create. This is a significant decision, as it will determine how your content is used and potentially benefit or harm your online presence.
Disabling "User-Agent: Google-Extended"
To disable this feature, you can simply add the following line of code to your site’s robots.txt file:
Disallow: User-Agent: Google-Extended
This will prevent Google from crawling and using your content for training purposes. However, it’s essential to note that this is not a foolproof solution, as some crawlers may still find ways to access your content.
Google’s Ethical Approach
Google claims to develop its AI in an ethical and inclusive way. However, the use case of AI training is significantly different from indexing the web. While Google aims to improve Bard and Vertex AI generative APIs, it’s essential to consider the data collection methods used to achieve this goal.
The Importance of Consent
Danielle Romain, VP of Trust at Google, writes in a blog post that web publishers want greater choice and control over how their content is used for emerging generative AI use cases. However, the word "train" does not appear in the post, despite being a crucial aspect of AI development.
The Framing of Consent
Google’s framing of consent can be seen as either positive or negative, depending on one’s perspective. On one hand, asking for permission to use content is a step towards transparency and accountability. However, considering that Bard and its other models have already been trained on enormous amounts of data without users’ consent, this framing lacks authenticity.
The Exploitation of Unfettered Access
Google’s actions demonstrate an exploitative approach to data collection. By using unfettered access to the web’s data, Google obtained what it needed and is now asking permission after the fact. This raises concerns about Google’s commitment to ethical data collection and the prioritization of user consent.
A Nascent Media Coalition
Medium has announced that it will block crawlers like this universally until a better, more granular solution is in place. This move reflects a growing trend among media outlets to prioritize user consent and control over their content.
The Future of AI Training
As AI models continue to improve and become increasingly powerful, the debate around data collection and consent will only intensify. It’s essential for web publishers, policymakers, and tech companies like Google to work together towards creating a more transparent and accountable approach to AI development.
Conclusion
Large language models are trained on vast amounts of data, much of which was collected without anyone’s knowledge or consent. As we move forward with the development of these models, it’s crucial to prioritize user consent and control over their content. By doing so, we can create a more transparent and accountable AI ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders involved.
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