Data harvesting is the large-scale, automated collection of digital information for later analysis or model development. In LLM development, it means gathering enormous collections of human-created content, often from websites whose users and publishers may not expect that use. section 9.1.2
The practice creates practical and ethical tensions:
- It can provide valuable training material while contributing little to the advertising revenue that supports hosting websites. section 9.1.2
- It may weaken the supply of future human-created content if creators lose income or motivation when their work is collected without acceptable compensation. section 9.1.2
- It can provoke resistance even when licensing agreements exist, because users may object to the commercialization of their contributions. section 9.1.2
Stack Exchange and Stack Overflow
Stack Exchange hosts user questions, answers, and ratings across communities such as programming, system administration, mathematics, and tabletop gaming. After Stack Exchange sought payment from LLM creators, some Stack Overflow users deleted helpful answers in protest over their free labor being sold. section 9.1.2
