[ai-control] Re: Proposed "AI System Inference" and "AI User Input" categories

[Leonard Rosenthol <[e-mail]>]

And while search and web usage is certainly a key aspect of this discussion, we also need to consider the “off the web” scenarios such as users asking for specific acts (e.g., “create an image in the style of this copyrighted one”, or “summarize this PDF").  That is one reason that the proposed differentiation between “automated” and “user invoked” operations is extremely important - and also helps address the concerns of Farz and Jo.

Leonard

From: Nate Hake <[e-mail]>
Date: Saturday, August 1, 2026 at 11:56 PM
To: Greg Lindahl <[e-mail]>
Cc: Adam and Joanne Gallagher <[e-mail]>; [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Subject: [ai-control] Re: Proposed "AI System Inference" and "AI User Input" categories


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Greg, we already have dealt with these concerns on multiple levels during our discussion in Toronto. We have a "search = y" option for a reason, so an asset owner can express a "n" preference to other use categories but still appear in search. Additionally, models that just classify and don't generate (as you describe) are outside the proposed definitions.



***
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Nate Hake
Founder
TravelLemming.com<https://travellemming.com/>


On Sun, Aug 2, 2026 at 4:26 AM Greg Lindahl <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
... by both of those definitions, an AI model that examines the text of a webpage and produces a pornography score output is AI inference.

And you are saying we should have a preference which says "I'm shooting myself in the foot, never show my webpages in a search engine result."

On Sat, Aug 1, 2026 at 2:21 PM Adam and Joanne Gallagher <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
Apologies for the second email. Here is another definition from IBM: https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-inference

"In machine learning, AI inference is the act of using a trained AI model to make predictions on new data. Essentially, any instance of an artificial intelligence model actually generating outputs or making decisions in a real-world AI application constitutes AI inference. In simple terms, AI inference entails a trained model applying the patterns it learned from its training data to infer the correct output for a given input."

AI inference is generating the output.

Adam

On Sat, Aug 1, 2026 at 11:18 AM Adam and Joanne Gallagher <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
Happy to hear your definition but this is the definition on the Google document: https://cloud.google.com/discover/what-is-ai-inference#how-does-ai-inference-work

"Think of it this way: if training is like teaching an AI a new skill, inference is that AI actually using the skill to do a job. It takes in new data (like a photo or a piece of text) and produces an instant output, like a prediction, generates a photo, or makes a decision. This is where AI delivers business value. For anyone building with AI, understanding how to make inference fast, scalable, and cost-effective is the key to creating successful solutions."

Adam

On Sat, Aug 1, 2026 at 11:14 AM Greg Lindahl <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
That's not what AI Inference means.

On Sat, Aug 1, 2026 at 2:13 PM Adam and Joanne Gallagher <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
No, AI inference is producing AI recipes riddled with errors that use our brand name to compete against us in search in the form of AI Overviews and AI Mode outputs. I go into this in detail in my post I linked to. Here is the link again: https://www.inspiredtaste.net/101454/ai-recipes-harming-trust/

To review the definition of AI inference that is discussed on this Google document: https://cloud.google.com/discover/what-is-ai-inference. AI inference is the computational process happening behind the scenes, and the AI Overview is the final text output of the inference process. When someone types a query into Google, the trained model takes the query and applies what it learned to generate a unique summary. This execution phase of taking the prompt and producing an output is by definition AI inference. Bottom line, AI inference is doing the harm and we don't have preferences to stop this from happening. As a publisher of information this is a major problem and the entire open web currently has this problem.

Adam

On Sat, Aug 1, 2026 at 11:00 AM Greg Lindahl <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
> AI inference is what is proactively being used in search at global scales which is causing grave harm to our business.

Are you harmed by AI inference intending to suppress pornography in search results?

One great thing about the IETF process is that it brings together many communities -- in this case, both publishers and search engine implementers.

This particular topic has come up several times in the past.

-- greg


On Sat, Aug 1, 2026 at 1:19 PM Adam and Joanne Gallagher <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
I completely agree with Nate on this. AI inference is what is proactively being used in search at global scales which is causing grave harm to our business. We currently don't have any inference preferences to stop it without removing ourselves from AI outputs entirely. With the lines between organic index search and AI search being blurred at alarming rates this would be insane for us to do. It is essentially a hostage situation right now. Here is a detailed post that describes how AI inference is misrepresenting our brand and competing against us with our content at scales never before seen. It is wildly unsustainable. Article link: https://www.inspiredtaste.net/101454/ai-recipes-harming-trust/

Our business desperately needs preferences to stop this from happening as soon as possible. Putting aside the training on our content that has already happened without our permission, inference is what is causing (doing) harm to our business in the form of AI misinformation.

Publishers need to have much more control of inference. It should be a core mission of this working group to define inference preferences and vocabulary.

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Adam Gallagher
Inspired Taste<https://www.inspiredtaste.net/> - Easy Recipes for Home Cooks

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Adam and Joanne Gallagher
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Adam and Joanne Gallagher
Inspired Taste<https://www.inspiredtaste.net/> - Easy Recipes for Home Cooks
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