- Lack of transparency: Publishers may not be aware of how their content is being used, or what specific AI models are being trained on their data.
- Data quality: The quality of the data used to train AI models can be compromised if it's not representative of the publisher's intended content.
The Role of robots.txt
To address these concerns, publishers use robots.txt files to control web crawler behavior. Robots.txt is a text file placed in the root directory of a website that provides instructions for web crawlers on what to crawl and what to avoid. By including or excluding URLs from robots.txt, publishers can dictate which parts of their website are accessible to crawlers.