AI Update: New AI/IP Decision, ArentFox’s AI Guide, Regulating AI Like TV
This week in AI news.
A new step has been taken in the debate over AI’s role in the legal side of the creative process, with a D.C. federal judge ruling that AI-generated artwork can’t be copyrighted, according to The Verge. What makes this case particularly interesting is that the plaintiff, Stephen Thaler, generated the artwork in question using an algorithm he created, blurring the line between artist and AI even more than usual.
ArentFox Schiff has issued what the firm calls the “first global definitive legal guide for industries navigating AI,” a 60-page report detailing key AI-related issues across 13 industries. “There is nothing that will happen in our lifetime that is more existential than AI, and business leaders are grasping with what to do next. Companies that lean into it will survive, and those that don’t, won’t survive,” said ArentFox Schiff Chairman Anthony V. Lupo.
In an interview with the Associated Press, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Arati Prabhakar highlighted human bias in AI and data privacy issues as significant motivators for increased AI regulation. Prabhakar also presented an optimistic outlook on private-public sharing of responsibility when it comes to implementing those regulations.
The New York Times explored how the U.S. has historically been slow to regulate new technologies, such as cars, radio, and television. Certain challenges, such as legislators’ lack of familiarity with the technology and the need for a balance between safety and innovation, may become significant roadblocks in regulating a rapidly developing industry.
How are attorneys feeling about artificial intelligence? The ABA Journal broke down the results of two surveys conducted by LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters, finding that a majority of the individuals surveyed expect AI to boost productivity (especially in relation to research and writing) and increase firm profits.
Struggling to implement AI to develop effective, interesting thought leadership content? For The Legal Intelligencer, attorney-turned-PR-guru Wayne Pollock offers a framework for how to make the most of what current AI tech does well and where human writers should step in.
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.
