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This research examines the emergence of automated plagiarism and its implications for creative work.

April 24, 2026Open Access

Automated plagiarism

Key Points

This research examines the emergence of automated plagiarism and its implications for creative work.
Identified traditional types of human plagiarism: competitive and institutionalised.
Proposed new categories related to large language models.
Discussed potential responses to automated plagiarism.
Introduced the concept of automated plagiarism distinct from traditional types.
Highlighted various responses, including legal and ethical considerations.
Encouraged exploration of alternative credit allocation methods for creative work.

Abstract

The advent of large language models (LLMs) has triggered concerns about various issues, one of which is plagiarism. In contrast with two long-standing types of human plagiarism, competitive and institutionalised, LLMs introduce a new type, which can be called automated plagiarism. There are many possible responses to it, including ignoring it, banning it, polluting it, exposing it, labelling it and suing for copyright infringement. The rise of automated plagiarism may stimulate thinking about alternative ways of allocating credit for human creative work.

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