Plagiarism and Paywall Dodging: Perplexity AI’s Unethical Practices Exposed!

Perplexitiy AI is in trouble…are they really thieves?

Dodging Paywalls and Plagiarism Allegations

Perplexity AI, aspiring to compete with Google by creating an “answer engine,” faces serious accusations of unethical practices. According to The Verge, Perplexity not only bypasses paywalls to access premium content but also plagiarizes material from primary sources. This approach deprives original sources of ad revenue, raising concerns about the company’s methods and their impact on journalism and content creation. For instance, Forbes reported that Perplexity accessed and summarised an investigation behind its hard paywall without proper citation, even using original artwork without permission.

Ignoring Robots.txt and Misleading Claims

Perplexity’s actions extend beyond plagiarism. The company reportedly ignores the robots.txt file, a widely respected web protocol that tells web crawlers which pages not to scrape. While CEO Aravind Srinivas claims third-party scrapers are responsible, he hasn’t committed to stopping these practices, suggesting a reliance on unscrupulous methods. Moreover, Perplexity has even plagiarised articles criticising its practices, such as one from Wired, showcasing a blatant disregard for ethical content aggregation.

Undermining Trust in AI and the Internet

Perplexity’s deceptive tactics highlight a broader issue within the AI industry. By scraping and aggregating content unethically, Perplexity undermines trust in both AI tools and the internet’s foundational principles. Srinivas’s admission of using fake academic projects to scrape data from Twitter further tarnishes the company’s reputation. As AI companies like Perplexity prioritise quick gains over ethical considerations, they risk eroding the trust that users and investors place in new technologies.

(Visit The Verge for the full story)

*An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.