Picnic prep in the forage kitchen. Two focaccias (focaccie, I suppose) - mugwort and serviceberry - cooling. Tartlet cases flavored with yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) just out of the oven, also cooling in their pan because they are shatteringly brittle while hot.
The leaves on the foreground are bayberry, Morella pensylvanica.
Pickled eggs. The brine is magnolia vinegar softened with some water (too much vinegar and the eggs become very hard) and tinted with some slivers of beetroot. I was tempted to leave them at this pretty, sliced-open stage, but the yolks are destined for deviling. Maybe next time.
Keeping up a blog in the age of AI makes little sense. Bots scrape these posts daily, gleaning, gathering, learning, and then offering it all back to you. In the past I only had to think about unscrupulous content creators appropriating and publishing my images or writing without credit or permission. You know, old school copyright violations.
AI bots make that kind of theft seem laughably ineffective.
Blogger is a very old blogging platform (this blog is one year shy of its 20th anniversary) and does not have built-in anti-bot measures. You know how, when you open many websites now, you often first see a page that says something to the effect of Security Verification, possibly with a box you need to check? That's an attempt at preventing the scraping.
Guaranteed original content might become a commodity, like gold.
Change must come. I mean, for this blog, if I am to keep it. I have been self conscious about its vintage looks and interface for long time, anyhow. Tick, tick.
Boom.
Argh! bots and scammers...I've spent most of this morning deleting and changing passwords and it's still too early to resort to alcohol!! I am considering returning to Wordpress and paying for (slightly) better protection, but wonder whether it's worthwhile...
ReplyDeleteYour eggs are very pretty!
I love the eggs, too. Well done on keeping up to date with passwords and security!
DeleteYour feast looks delicious 😋
ReplyDeleteI never thought about AI harvesting blog data. Interesting and disturbing. There are some good points to AI: recently read about their use in detailed examinations of breast scans but AI also drives me insane on the phone.
It collects everything, from everywhere, all the time. Yes, the medical diagnostic aspect is very interesting and and helpful.
DeleteHope you stay.
ReplyDeleteVery famous writers are having the same problem even with own domains.
Legal action to make legislative changes are in the works.
Where are you thinking of moving to?
Yes, anything published online is prey to scraping. My first book was targeted (along with over 100,000 others) for the training of generative AI. A class action lawsuit is in the works but that will benefit only one party: the lawyers. Parts of my second book have appeared - verbatim - in a couple of AI generated foraging books. I will probably migrate the blog to Wordpress. Google has abandoned blogger in terms of development features and upgrades.
DeleteI've been scooped as well. Sorry to hear about your experience. Legislation needs to catch up.
DeleteWordPress is glitch and it takes time to bring readership over.
Scooped or scraped?
DeleteBoth. With a little plagiarism thrown in for extra flavor. The advantage of verbatim is its easy to prove.
DeleteAdditinal Juicy story with a politician for decoration. (He uses all AIs out there) for scapegoating. You can try a cease and desist unless they give credit. Lots of options, Marie.
Is your work in journalism, books? There are very few practical options, in fact, aside from the class action I am already involved in. And I certainly don't have the time to initiate take downs or lawsuits against every scraper and anonymous AI publisher. It's simply not possible, so I am curious about your specific experience. Speaking of which, may I know your name, since it's hard having an anonymous conversation? There is an option in the comment box.
Delete;)
DeleteI can't get into details but wish I could because the audacity was incredible. Can't identify him.
Longvstory short. Participated in a type of discussion/conference which brings people together from various fields.
Noticed that the politician who published himself was too prolific and kept citing himself with AI. My contributions were altered. The best sentences removed. Didn't sound like me.
He was using AI to steal write and publish for him. My actions worked like a charm. There's an acknowledgement now. (Didn't want to publish there but this resolution was the fastest.)
Why he thought that contributors don't have the original or are that stupid? And no I wasn't the only one.
What were your "actions"?
DeleteIncognito
DeleteAs mentioned above. With conditions of what he has to do by when.
I'll write more later. Should I continue here or in newer posts.
No need to continue.
DeleteI appreciate the vintage feel of your blog and enjoy reading it very much. The photos are gorgeous. I'm not sure I'm cut out for the new AI world. I am 100 percent behind its applications in the medical realm, but not sold on its other applications so far.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Janet. I am frightened of our new world order. If we had sane people in the most powerful leadership roles, it might feel different. But generative AI's potential for abuse is terrifying.
DeleteI have always loved your blog. It cheers me up and the pictures are always perfect. It is like a glimpse into another, very lovely and gentle world.
ReplyDeleteI do hope there is a way for you to retain your blog on some platform. I have been an avid reader of yours for over a decade. It is both a source of comfort and inspiration for me. I have tried many of your recipes as well as gardening and foraging methods. Your writings and photography are always stunning. Another source of comfort now is the privilege of reading a blog knowing its contents are completely human— inspired and made. I agree that original content will become (if not already is) a valuable commodity. I hope you’re able to find a way to continue on while protecting your much appreciated intellectual property.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your support. My focus shifted to Instagram, but the blog or something in its spirit will continue. Social media evolves and Instagram has become $-based to the point of cynicism. I don't play that game, and I don't care, but I miss the open exchange and the organic visits (versus highly controlled). The idea of intellectual property being respected on an open platform is now quaint in the extreme. One option to prevent the continual scraping is a subscription-only newsletter. But really, how many newsletters does the world need? Still thinking.
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