{"id":2838,"date":"2025-05-18T10:48:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T09:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?p=2838"},"modified":"2025-07-25T17:21:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T16:21:03","slug":"ai-content-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/18\/ai-content-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"AI content theft \u2013 killing the internet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AI content theft is slowly but surely killing the internet. It may take years, but \u2018slow boil\u2019 has already killed plenty of other creative industries, so don\u2019t think it can\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The internet itself has all but killed print newspapers. Partly because, in its infancy, naive newspaper proprietors saw websites as a way to make easy money. Imagined they\u2019d hoover up advertising, while not having the costs of newsprint to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newspaper proprietors gave away news stories online for free. Stories they were also putting into physical newpapers they expected readers to pay for. They thought this was fine because they naively believed they had two different audiences, and would continue to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast-forward 15 years or so and the proprietors had already got rid of every staff photographer, all the sub-editors, and; reduced the reporting staff to a handful of people, rattling around in an all-but empty newsroom. Which they then sold, desperate for short-term money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could also go into how the internet (free content) and camera phones have all but killed professional photography. (And AI is adding a further knife into what\u2019s left). And how AI content is now replacing work that would have been done by PR agency writers or freelance authors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this article is called \u2018AI content theft \u2013 killing the internet\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because just as streaming all but killed off DVDs and CDs (which had killed off VHS and cassettes), so AI content theft is slowly killing the thing that has all but killed off\u2026 you get the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who creates internet content?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Or perhaps, I should say \u2018why?\u2019 Businesses and individuals set up websites for a couple of primary reasons. One is to make money. The other is to share their interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog is in the latter category. I like researching Cumbrian and social history. I\u2019m a journalist, used to sharing my discoveries with others, for their benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A disclaimer <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It costs me money to run the blog. There\u2019s a host to pay, and a domain name to renew regularly (I chose the wrong one initially, but too late to change now!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I make no money at all from Cumbrian Characters: it\u2019s a hobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if AI content theft deprives me of readers, it\u2019s annoying, but this article isn\u2019t \u2018personal\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, to be clear, I NEVER use AI in any of my articles. I don\u2019t need it to write and I don\u2019t trust it to be accurate as a source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I use em-dashes (the long ones), because they are the house style on every news title I\u2019ve worked for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI content theft \u2013 hitting revenues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Google \u2018Cumbrian surnames\u2019 and the top answer is still an article I wrote some back in 2018<\/a>: 
However, make it a question: \u2018what are Cumbrian surnames\u2019 and up pops an AI overview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018<\/em>Common surnames in Cumbria include <\/em>Atkinson, Thompson, Robinson, Richardson, Nicholson, and Jackson<\/em>. Many of these names are descriptive, relating to specific regions or family occupations.\u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that answers your question, there\u2019s no need to click on the link to my article. Or the News and Star or other news outlet articles that come underneath it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By providing an overview, Google has reduced traffic to every site listed in its results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not going to cost me money, but many of those sites DO rely on clicks to make money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if it\u2019s, say a question about which type of of paint to use on kitchen cupboards, it\u2019s not just lost clicks\/ad revenue. It\u2019s potentially lost sales of a product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garbage in, garbage out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Using the example above, AI overview starts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018Cumbrian surnames often reflect the area’s rich history and geographical features.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Which is basically drivel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Atkinson, Thompson etc are all patronyms. Nothing to do with history, geography, or, as AI overview claims, \u2018specific regions or family occupations\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make your mind up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ask the same question again and you\u2019ll get a different response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018<\/em>Cumbrian surnames, like those from many regions, <\/em>often have connections to place names, occupations, or even personal characteristics\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\n
\"AI<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Totally generic: could be about anywhere. But it then suggests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018Allison, Booth, Blackwell, Bell\u2026\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Well, Bell is, at least, a common Cumbrian surname. But it then says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018Bell likely derives from the Old English word “beall,” meaning \u201cbell.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Seriously?!
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are wondering about Booth, AI overview reckons it is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018<\/em><\/strong>A common surname, often associated with the village of Booth in South West Cumbria.\u2019<\/em>
<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I can only think it got confused by the supermarkets!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI overview does at least conclude:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018AI responses may include mistakes.\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

AI content theft \u2013 eating itself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Say a shop that sells fabric decides it\u2019s cheaper to get AI to write content about \u2018how to make cushion covers\u2019 or \u2018what fabric is best for bathroom curtains?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bot crawls the internet, scrapes information from existing websites, and cobbles together something that may or may not be accurate (depending on the sources it used).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Down the line, another fabric seller decides it\u2019s cheaper to get AI to write content about \u2018how to make cushion covers\u2019 or \u2018what fabric is best for bathroom curtains?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the bot scrapes content from the first site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By now, PR agencies aren\u2019t paying staff to research and write articles. Before they stopped doing so, they were finding the only sources available were AI-generated articles of dubious accuracy anyway. Freelance writers have long given up, their income reduced to zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving the hobbyists. Whose accuracy is impossible to verify \u2013 think of all the disinformation \u2018out there\u2019. (For the record, Cumbrian Characters<\/em> doesn\u2019t publish anything it has any doubt about \u2013 this journalist really cares about verifiable sources and accuracy!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And many of the hobbyists are giving up. The majority of blogs fizzle out after a few years anyway: they are time-consuming, there\u2019s no money in it\u2026 And if AI overview is reducing traffic, then a feeling of speaking to an empty room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probably the only hobbyists left will be the extremists, the nutbars, the people \u2018on a mission\u2019 to spread dingbat theories and ideologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So there will be no fresh content being uploaded. Only AI-generated rehashes of AI-generated rehashes of AI-generated rehashes\u2026 of articles of dubious quality in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which few will read, if they get their \u2018answer\u2019 in the AI overview anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footnote:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I read recently: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It is estimated that only one in five website visitors is actually human, and over half of all internet traffic is now AI bots and crawlers, relentlessly sniffing out and ingesting human creative works.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This seems impossible to verify and may well be a massive exaggeration. And for sure, AI Overview disagrees! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though of course, ask it three times and you’ll get three different estimates for the accurate figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, showing how \u2018useful\u2019 bots\/AI etc are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Searches related to woodworm beetles: \u201cWoodworm beetles for sale\u201d.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UPDATE:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seems I’m not the only person this has occurred to! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Websites losing 4\/5ths of traffic to AI overviews, survey finds<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AI content theft is slowly but surely killing the internet. It may take years, but \u2018slow boil\u2019 has already killed plenty of other creative industries, so don\u2019t think it can\u2019t happen. The internet itself has all but killed print newspapers. Partly because, in its infancy, naive newspaper proprietors saw websites as a way to make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[455,456],"class_list":["post-2838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ai","tag-google-overview"],"yoast_head":"\nAI content theft \u2013 killing the internet - Cumbrian Characters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AI content theft is slowly but surely killing the internet. 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