Artificial Intelligence (AI) and copyright

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI): A new dawn of technologies

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a new concept and has been in our lives for some time now. Examples include, smartphone or PC digital assistants, online shopping and advertising, robots used in factories, autonomous cars, etc.

AI has the ability to re-create human-like capabilities like reasoning, learning, planning and creativity. In certain cases AI are capable of learning and adapting from their previous behaviour as well as work autonomously. 

Generative AIs, like ChatGPT, DALL-E, Google Gemini, etc. are deep-learning models, which create a myriad of different outputs, from text, images, video, art, music, etc. 

The technique used to teach these systems, ‘deep learning’, is a similar way in which humans learn just at a greater speed and amount. For the results to be improved the algorithm is fed a significant amount of information. However, it is not known if that information is freely available or is still under copyright. Words and ideas generated by some AI tools make use of other, human authors' ideas without referencing them, which, as things stand, is controversial and considered by many to be a form a plagiarism. It was also found that many of these AIs, hallucinate. Hallucination is the term used when the machine creates something that is not real from nothing. 

Copyright law and Generative AI: A legal framework

Copyright definition states that for a work to be protected by copyright, it needs to be created by a ‘natural person’. Now UK law S.9(3) of the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) states that ‘(3) In the case of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work which is computer-generated, the author shall be taken to be the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the creation of the work are undertaken.’

The wording here does not fully define ownership. ‘The person by whom the arrangements necessary for the creation of the work are undertaken’ is not clear in a scenario in which a user provides prompts for the AI generator to produce outputs. There has also been little by way of case law to assess the meaning of the legislation as it applies to AI.

Some countries around the world have taken measures to create a legal framework in the use of AIs. 

• European Union: AI Act focuses on risk mitigation. It includes transparency requirements for AI used in training models, potentially impacting copyright issues by demanding of disclosure of copyright materials used;
• China: has several guidelines and regulation which aim to balance innovation with copyright protection;
• South Korea: AI Basic Act has been enacted in 2020, promoting responsible AI use but not specifically targeting copyright issues;
• Singapore: issued guidelines on ethical AI development, including data collection and sharing, which could have implications for copyright.

Important to highlight here is that this area is still under rapid development and legislation is trying to keep up with the changes. Specifics will vary from country to country, some addressing both ethical and copyright issues, while others focus mainly on the ethical issues.  

Ethical implications of AI use

There are certain ethical implications in using ChatGPT which the UNESCO brief on ChatGPT has highlighted.

In the case of ChatGPT the user owns the output. However, as OpenAI acknowledges, the output of ChatGPT may not be unique, and therefore multiple users may receive the same or similar results to other users, which raises issues of copyright enforceability between recipients of AI generated content.

Aleksandr Tiulkanov, AI and Data Policy Lawyer created a useful flowchart to help in assessing when the use of ChatGPT is safe. Questions that you could ask yourself are:

• Does it matter if the outputs are true?
• Do you have the knowledge to verify the accuracy of the output? Are you willing and able to take full responsibility (legal, moral, etc.) for missed inaccuracies?
• If you answered yes to some or all of these questions, then you are free to use ChatGPT, if you answered no, you may want to re-think your use of the GenAI.

According to UNESCO’s ChatGPT quick guide, there are possible uses of ChatGPT in the research process:

It could be used in:

1. Research design: generate ideas for research questions or projects; suggest data sources.
2. Data collection: search archives and datasets; translate sources into other languages.
3. Data analysis: code data; suggest themes or topics for analysis.
4. Writing up: improve writing quality; reformat citations and references; translate writing.

One point to make here is that everything that is inputted within these AIs will be used as training data. Make sure you own the data you input and are happy for it to be re-used to train the AIs. Always read the terms and conditions. If in doubt, get in touch with the Copyright and Licensing Manager or the library.

Also make sure you read the terms and conditions or copyright notices of any Generative AI tool you use. If you have used any Generative AI tool to create a table or figure or text, do make sure you cite it.

Jisc has created advice and guidance on Generative AI in the education sector.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this section does not reflect the views of Loughborough University.