Bryce Hall, a McKinsey associate partner, recently shared an analogy he heard from a business leader about generative AI: “We’ve just opened Jurassic Park, but we haven’t yet installed the electric fences.”
Earlier this month, 26 global media organizations essentially announced that they weren’t waiting for electricians and contractors, and were instead establishing their own principles that they “believe should govern the development, deployment, and regulation of Artificial Intelligence systems and applications.”
Emphasizing that they embrace the opportunities AI technologies will present to both businesses and society, the organizations are calling for responsible development as they “also pose risks for the sustainability of the creative industries, the public’s trust in knowledge, journalism, and science, and the health of our democracies.”
The principles, as outlined in the joint “Global Principles on Artificial Intelligence (AI)” statement, shared by News Media Alliance, began with a focus on intellectual property. IP rights (including applicable copyright, ancillary rights, and any contractual restrictions) must be respected by those developing, operating, or deploying AI systems, the organizations say.
Rights-holders are “entitled to negotiate for and receive adequate remuneration for use of their IP,” and there shall be no “crawling, ingesting, or using” content without express authorization. Additionally, “existing markets for licensing creators’ and rights-holders’ content should be recognized.”
Other issues covered in the principles include accountability, quality assurance, marketplace fairness, trustworthiness and safety, sustainable development, and transparency.
“It is essential that strong regulations are put in place to require developers of AI systems to keep detailed records of publisher works and associated metadata, alongside the legal basis on which they were accessed,” the organizations say, “and to make this information available to the extent necessary for publishers to enforce their rights where their content is included in training datasets.”
Organizations that signed the statement include News/Media Alliance, News Publishers’ Association, News Media Association, Digital Content Next, and the World Association of News Publishers. As News/Media Alliance President and CEO Danielle Coffey said, “these Global AI Principles demonstrate the widespread agreement of publishers around the world that their intellectual property, which is the product of significant investments they have made in providing quality journalistic and creative content, should be recognized and respected.”
“AI systems are only as good as the content they use to train them, and therefore developers of generative AI technology must recognize and compensate publishers accordingly for the tremendous value their content contributes to the development of these systems.”
(Source: News/Media Alliance)
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