The internet’s new big debate isn’t about technology. It’s about credit.

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Artificial intelligence has become the biggest consumer of content the world has ever seen. Every day, AI systems read millions of articles, posts, and reports - learning from the work of publishers, journalists, and creators. They turn that knowledge into fluent answers, but rarely credit or reward the sources behind them.

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This week, New Digital Age published an article by Supertab’s Director of Growth, Erick McAfee, titled “How AI and publishers can finally strike a fair deal.” It explores how the balance between AI and media can finally shift toward something fairer, where the creators who feed these systems are treated as partners, not as background data.

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At Supertab, we believe that shift is overdue. For too long, AI development has depended on the open web without giving back to the people who power it. Publishers invest time, talent, and trust to create work that informs the world. And that work shouldn’t disappear into a training set with nothing in return.

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The answer isn’t another wall between AI and content, however. It’s a better way to recognize and reward the use of that content. Articles, images, and videos aren’t raw material - they’re all intellectual property. When AI systems rely on them, there should be a clear, transparent exchange that reflects real usage and real value.

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A fair system would make it easy for both sides: publishers get paid when their work is used, and AI companies gain legitimate, reliable data to build on. It’s a practical, necessary step toward a digital economy that rewards the people who create, not just the machines that consume.

‍Read the full article here.