The training data for generative AI systems contains millions upon millions of copyrighted works. The rights holders of this material were neither asked if they consented to this form of use nor were they compensated for it. Many celebrate the fact that texts, images, and musical works are publicly available on the internet as an achievement for free education and participation in humanity’s cultural wealth. Of course, no one thought about the for-profit companies that develop large language models on this basis. Now, AI systems that produce their results based on content collected for free threaten to replace the very creators whose creative works they use. Publishers and collecting societies are under pressure. They are trying to develop rules for integrating AI into professional workflows and to protect the rights of the creators they represent—especially against non-European corporations that dominate technological development. In this complex situation, what rights can authors whose works already appear in the training data of GPT and similar systems still claim? What is the cost of AI if copyright law does not apply in this area? How can human creative work be protected in the future from exploitation by IT corporations?
Nina George is a writer, translator, and host. For many years, she has been actively advocating for the rights of artists and cultural practitioners in political processes, for example as president of the European Writers’ Council. In this podcast, the expert outlines the challenges that creatives and writers face due to the development of generative AI and identifies the key players involved. She describes the interests that various stakeholders are pursuing in current negotiations, articulates criticisms and demands directed at policymakers and AI developers, and highlights possible future scenarios. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, George discusses whether a sensible approach to generative AI is conceivable in the creative industries, and what real-life circumstances are affected by the debate over the value of human authorship and cultural contributions.
Folge 52: Digitalgespräch with Nina George of European Writers‘ Council, 28th of May 2024
Further Information:
The Webseite of the European Writers‘ Council: https://europeanwriterscouncil.eu/
The Webseite of the Author’s Rights Network: https://www.netzwerk-autorenrechte.de/
all episodes of Digitalgespräch
The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.