They started with science. Then came the arts. But not even your DIY blog is safe.
In earlier posts, I wrote about how scientific knowledge (even mine ) is being turned into AI training data: without consent, without attribution, let alone compensation. I have also talked about art: the creative output of millions of artists is quietly being absorbed into programs that never name their sources of “inspiration”.
This Bloomberg article adds an extra layer to the trend: It’s not just academic work or creative works that’s on AI’s menu. It’s any content that shows human care, craft, or credibility.
Travel blogs, food sites, independent journalism, home renovation guides: all of it is being soaked up by the great AI sponge. But it’s not scraped and stored in some dataset. It’s being summarized, repackaged, and displayed right there in the search results. And with that, SEO becomes meaningless. The rules creators played by for years to make their work visible are quietly being rewritten.
Very convenient for users. It saves us from clicking through. But the humans who created the content become invisible and unacknowledged.
It’s as if the AI throws itself between creators and audience, pulls the reader away and says: “No need to visit that site. I’ve read it for you.”
What does that mean? Content that was once part of a direct relationship from a human to a human, is now being turned into intermediary training fuel. From B2C to B2B; but without a contract and without payment.
And the logic behind it? To avoid “model collapse”, AI needs more high-quality human-made data. So it eats everything it can find; unless it’s locked behind a paywall.
For people who publish this means we’re all becoming unwilling contributors to a system that trains on our work and then replaces us with its outputs.
Creators are reduced to training fodder for machines. Held hostage by Google & Co. And there seems to be no ransom.
Originally shared on LinkedIn on April 11, 2025.