I’ve been mulling over this clash between AI and the content it’s trained on for some time now. As a frequent user of AI and a regular online publisher, I see both sides of the coin. I’m well aware that the articles I put out there probably end up as fodder for some AI training algorithm. And while I know many writers are upset about their work being used this way without compensation, I personally don’t get too riled up about it.

For me, it’s simple: once I publish something online, I’ve pretty much let it go. It’s out there in the wild, free for anyone to use, maybe even to profit from. And I’m okay with that. It’s a part of the deal you accept when you decide to publish online. Keeping things private is a different story. If I have something confidential to say, I’ll do it face-to-face, away from any prying ears (or screens). Of course, even then, there’s the chance of someone passing it on, but that’s just how it goes.

Writing something down and sharing it online, though, is like leaving your notes in a public place. You’re basically saying, “Here it is. Do what you will with it.” I’ve made my peace with the fact that once I hit ‘publish’, my control over that piece of content is pretty much over.

Publishing online is a peculiar thing. Your work is both yours and not yours at the same time. It’s a different beast compared to traditional print media. You can’t hold onto digital content the same way you can hold a book or a newspaper. It’s more fluid, more elusive.

Here’s an example from my own experience. A while back, after buying a used DJI drone, I had a tough time figuring out how to reset it. I eventually sorted it out and shared the solution online. It attracted a lot of views and even helped me earn a bit through ads. But then, one day, I noticed that Google was displaying the reset steps directly in the search results. There went my little stream of income from that post. It felt a bit unfair, sure, but I didn’t dwell on it. That’s just how the modern web seems to work.

If my livelihood depended on my online content, I might feel differently. I might be more vocal in my displeasure about big tech companies using my content. There’s a lot to get annoyed about with technology, people are putting computers on the face for god sake, but some massive word cloud in a data centre somewhere, training itself on my typos and toddler level grammar, give me a break.