Introduction
Nowadays, everyone speaks of AI, it is not a subject related to IT people only; others that are involved in different fields, such as vendors, taxi drivers, journalists, scientists, teachers, students, and even politicians mention it in their speeches. Most of them use AI to generate content, for example “news articles, academic papers, social media posts, photos, and even chatbot chats” (Cambridge University Press, 2023).
However, we have to say that they do not know how the AI really works, where the data comes from or even are not aware of the regulations related to their common lives, especially data privacy, intellectual property, and others.
Based on that, the following topics are going to be covered in this article:
- Understand the general view of legal aspects of AI uses
- Give an overview of data privacy and intellectual property concerns
Overview of AI Legal Concerns
It is common to hear about Chat GPT these days, which “attracted millions of users quickly after its launch” (Cambridge University Press, 2023), and how professional associations have applied it to improve operations and decision-making processes; but some companies are not aware of how this can impact their business in the short term use, there are legal issues that should be evaluated immediately. These problematic issues are the following: (Tenenbaum, 2023)
- Data privacy: Companies must know that AI tools “depend on vast amounts of data to train and improve their algorithms” (Tenenbaum, 2023) and “they must ensure collected data is used by local, state or international privacy laws and regulations” (Tenenbaum, 2023).
- Intellectual property: AI tools can produce new works of authorship, for instance, software, artistic works, articles, or white papers (Tenenbaum, 2023). At this point, companies must consider if they have enough rights and licenses to use and release these works.
- Discrimination: AI systems can cause discrimination if the trained data is based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender race, and so on. Companies must identify and classify training data to avoid any biases in their algorithms. (Tenenbaum, 2023).
- Tort liability: Whether the AI system or tool “produces inaccurate, negligent, or biased results that harm members or other end users”, the company could be held responsible for any resulting damage, (Tenenbaum, 2023) and this can be a huge problem. Companies must be aware of the consequences and prevent them with reliable and accurate AI systems.
Data privacy and intellectual property concerns
If you as an employee use AI for your daily tasks and so on, this implies some responsibilities that we must talk about, because “the impact of AI is therefore truly enormous, and it has given rise to numerous legal and ethical issues that need to be explored, especially from a copyright perspective” (Cambridge University Press, 2023).
You can hear that some software engineers start using AI tools such as Chat GPT (The most popular) and GitHub Copilot, which are good in a way because you can “spend less time creating boilerplate and repetitive code patterns, and more time on what matters: building great software” (GitHub, Inc, 2023). But the project and its code are the property of the clients, and this is considered confidential information so you must be aware that those copilots need code to be trained, and “shares recommendations based on the project’s context and style conventions” (GitHub, Inc, 2023). If you use those AI tools, you should be careful with the clauses you signed to comply with the contract.
On the other hand, how the companies and employees know that the training data that uses the AI tool is free from any copyright violations (Lucchi, 2023). If you see only the situation as an individual, you can implement functionality in less time than a person without the tools, but the company must “ensure that they do not infringe any third-party copyright, patent, or trademark rights” (Tenenbaum, 2023)when the product is released.
In conclusion, several legal issues can be raised because of AI tools. Although the AI regulations and laws are in the process of being defined, using AI tools irresponsibly can cause more problems than solutions to your company and you as an employee can be fired because of your contract confidentiality clauses. Companies are starting to implement AI tools, but they must define policies to use them with responsibility and comply with laws and employees must verify with the legal and IT department, to ensure that AI tools being used do not violate company compliance rules.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the valuable work done by the Microsoft .NET Hub in the Capabilities Development dimension within our company, which has been instrumental in addressing key issues such as the use of AI in product development. We invite everyone to explore more about this fascinating topic and discover practical tips on our “AI Product Powered People” blog. Join us on this journey into the future of AI-powered technology and product development!
References
- Cambridge University press. (2023, 08 23). Cambridge University press. Retrieved from Cambridge University press: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-risk-regulation/article/chatgpt-a-case-study-on-copyright-challenges-for-generative-artificial-intelligence-systems/CEDCE34DED599CC4EB201289BB161965
- European Parliament. (2023, 09 23). News European Parliament. Retrieved from News European Parliament: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20230601STO93804/eu-ai-act-first-regulation-on-artificial-intelligence?&at_campaign=20226-Digital&at_medium=Google_Ads&at_platform=Search&at_creation=RSA&at_goal=TR_G&at_advertiser=Webcomm&at_audien
- GitHub, Inc. (2023, 09 30). Retrieved from https://github.com/features/copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot
- Lucchi, N. (2023). ChatGPT: A Case Study on Copyright Challenges for Generative Artificial Intelligence Systems. Cambridge University Press.
- Petit, N. (2017). Law and Regulation of Artificial Intelligence and Robots – Conceptual Framework and Normative Implications. Elsevier Inc, 31. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2931339
- Springer Nature. (2023, 05 19). Springer link. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-022-01471-6
- Tenenbaum, J. (2023, 04 19). American Bar Association. Retrieved from American Bar Association: https://businesslawtoday.org/2023/04/ai-associations-five-key-legal-issues/
