AI Emergence Sparks Controversy Surrounding Web Crawlers

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has ignited debates over the use of web crawlers, with companies such as OpenAI employing them to train expansive language models, potentially transforming the way information is accessed and disseminated. For the past thirty years, a simple text file has preserved internet harmony, symbolizing a collective agreement among the initial internet innovators to honor each other's preferences and develop the internet in a manner that profited everyone. This text file, often dubbed as the internet's mini constitution, lacks any specific legal or technical authority. It originated from the conviction that the internet was a domain populated by benevolent individuals who desired the internet to serve as a positive instrument, and that the majority of robots, including web crawlers, were advantageous and developed by well-intentioned individuals.