AI Update: New State And National AI Inquiries, Google Requires AI Disclosures For Political Ads
This week in AI news.
Legaltech News broke down how several major firms are embracing internal generative AI tools, implementing “various approaches to laying the groundwork for their tools to flourish safely—from firmwide cultural messaging, to collaboration with their insurance providers, to surveillance of user prompts.” As the novelty of generative AI wears off, perhaps the tech’s best uses will reveal themselves — firms who haven’t implemented the tech should stay tuned.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order pushing the state’s investigation into the potential risks and benefits of generative AI forward, Politico reported on Wednesday. “We’re taking a clear-eyed, humble approach to this world-changing technology. Asking questions. Seeking answers from experts. Focused on shaping the future of ethical, transparent, and trustworthy AI,” Newsom said in a press release.
Google and YouTube will require political ads to include a “prominent disclosure” regarding any artificial intelligence tools used to make the ads, according to the AP. There will be some wiggle room, however, as “exceptions to the ban include synthetic content altered or generated in a way that’s inconsequential to the claims made in the ad. AI can also be used in editing techniques like image resizing, cropping, color, defect correction, or background edits.”
The U.S. Copyright Office has issued a notice of inquiry regarding copyright and artificial intelligence, opening up a forum for the public to offer opinions that may help “shape future copyright law and policy” according to Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO.
Ironclad Contract AI, a contract-focused generative AI solution currently in its beta stage, has released an open-source version of a backend technology called Rivet that allows the program to show how it arrived at a particular response, Legaltech News reported in an overview published Thursday.
Paul Goldstein, a writer and Stanford Law School professor focused on intellectual property, weighed in on the role of AI in the current WGA strike for the school’s blog. “I would be surprised if authorial self-esteem isn’t at work here as well… The thought that their creative spark can be replaced by a few lines of computer code can be morally crushing,” Goldstein said.
Ethan Beberness is a Brooklyn-based writer covering legal tech, small law firms, and in-house counsel for Above the Law. His coverage of legal happenings and the legal services industry has appeared in Law360, Bushwick Daily, and elsewhere.
