Word's worth: plagiarism in the AI age

词汇之量:人工智能时代的剽窃问题

Editor's Picks from The Economist

2026-01-29

9 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

A handpicked article read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. Plagiarism is nothing new, but AI has made it easier and more complex. Writers, readers, and courts are grappling with who owns words in the digital age. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
更多

单集文稿 ...

  • The Economist Hi there, it's Jason Palmer here,

  • co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs podcast.

  • This is Editor's Pics.

  • You're about to hear an article from the latest edition of The Economist, read aloud.

  • Enjoy.

  • It is a truth universally acknowledged that people get away with plagiarism a lot,

  • even when the line they are plagiarizing is, it is a truth universally acknowledged.

  • In 2007,

  • chapters of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice were sent with minor variations to 18 editors,

  • purporting to be a new novel entitled First Impressions.

  • Despite it containing one of the most famous lines in English literature,

  • only one editor called out the hoaxer.

  • My first impression, or reading first impressions,

  • he replied with Austenian archness, was, mild annoyance, then laughter.

  • Many find plagiarism less droll, as a new book by Roger Kreutz,

  • an academic, makes clear His book canters through 20 centuries of plagiarism,

  • from musical plagiarism, Bob Dylan, to literary plagiarism, Dylan Thomas,

  • or rhetorical plagiarism, Joe Biden, and all of the above plagiarism.

  • Mr.

  • Dylan's acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Literature,