Data, Content, Context, Slop

There are many stakeholders in the information economy. For decades, creators, workers, market intermediaries, media companies, and digital platforms have tussled over how information, articulated in different forms such as “works”, “content”, or “knowledge”, can be monetised and who should benefit. More recently, AI firms have entered this contest over how to define and justify the forms of profit that can be drawn off information as it flows from creators to consumers via intermediaries, platforms, and AI models.