Court warns of legal dangers of AI-generated content

Gen Z-dominated Chinese video platform Bilibili has recently seen a resurgence with an artificial intelligence (AI) singer. said it contained legal issues.

On stage, someone synthesized the voice of former US President Donald Trump and recorded him singing classic patriotic songs such as “I Love You, China.” Other netizens imitated the rapping voice of crosstalk artist Guo Degang.

If you feed a human “dry sound” without instruments, accompaniment, reverberations, and harmonies into AI software, it can generate a similar voice to say anything, including singing. Many of these songs with celebrity names and photos have hundreds of thousands of hits online, and some videos can reach millions of views.

Although no lawsuit has been filed yet, according to laws such as civil law and copyright law, such unauthorized videos may infringe on the entertainer’s name and vocal rights, the performer’s right, and the lyricist’s copyright. Ni Jingjing, a member of the court’s IP team, told Shanghai Daily.

Many videos are for entertainment purposes only and include a disclaimer stating that they will be removed if infringing. However, Mr. Nee pointed out that copyright infringement determinations have nothing to do with profitability.

Nee also said that platforms are more likely to be held legally liable depending on overall factors such as the type of platform and its ability to monitor and supervise.

In recent years, not only AI singers, but also many virtual characters and related works such as AI talents and models are gaining popularity.

For example, Liu Yexi, an AI celebrity from short video platform Douyin, is a “virtual beauty talent who can hunt monsters in the metaverse,” according to the character’s self-description.

Created by Shanghai-based technology company Create One, the character and Chinese fantasy short has amassed over 8.35 million followers since 2021.

The company’s CEO Liang Zikang said in an earlier report on thecover.cn that 10 more AI characters will appear by the end of this year to establish the company’s metaverse.

This technology can also be used to violate the rights of ordinary people.

The Qingpu district public prosecutor’s office has warned the public not to fall for the words of criminals who use high-tech marketing such as AI and the Metaverse to lure others into investing. The company filed a lawsuit on Tuesday over a pyramid sales case involving Metaverse, resulting in more than 11.6 million yuan (US$1.65 million) in victims and more than 14,000 victims.

A man named Liang Zhizhong and two others developed the Metaverse system SpayX in 2021 and deceived others by claiming it was a ‘Chinese development research think tank’, prosecutors find bottom.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the three argued that the Shenzhen and Beijing systems had already been completed and that Shanghai’s system needed public investment.

The investment was based on the cryptocurrency Tether Token, and those who invested in the project were promised high profits in addition to preferential treatment if they attracted more members.

Last year, Liang and his group even held a raffle during business meetings to boost credibility. The star prize was a car and an apartment, and the winners were all male allies.

When the investors realized they had lost contact with the men, they called the police. Three were arrested within two months.

Prosecutors are taking legal action and further investigations are underway.

In order to promote the safe development and application of AI technology, departments and enterprises have recently issued several relevant regulations.

For example, Douyin last week released platform specifications for AI-generated services, stating that AI-generated content should be clearly marked and publishers should be responsible for the results of AI-generated content. There will also be severe penalties for users who create and publish AI-generated content that violates rights and regulations.

In October, Shanghai passed the nation’s first city-level laws and regulations on AI, providing a huge development space for the AI ​​industry within the legal framework. If local authorities find minor violations in the AI ​​field, the parties and companies involved may be exempt from administrative penalties, but criticism and education are needed, he said.

Last Wednesday, the state Internet Information Agency completed a public request for comments on the first national regulation of AI-generated services due to launch this year.

A draft called the Generative Artificial Intelligence Service Management Guidelines, published online, sought public opinion and stipulated that generative AI should follow common human ethics. Algorithm design, including training data selection, model generation and optimization, should prevent discrimination based on race, ethnicity, creed, nationality, gender, age, and occupation. AI services should avoid unfairness, fake news, and disclosure of personal and trade secrets. On the other hand, AI-generated photos and videos were required to be marked as such.

China is not the only country to take such actions. Italy has temporarily banned ChatGPT and launched an investigation into related privacy rule violations.

In the US, on Tuesday, ChatGPT OpenAI developer Sam Altman called on members of a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing to regulate AI.

“My biggest fear is that we, this sector, the technology industry, will cause a lot of damage to the world,” he told the China Daily. “We believe that regulatory intervention by governments will be key to de-risking increasingly powerful models.”

The AI ​​law, the world’s first law governing AI, is set to come into force after MEPs last week voted to advance a draft regulation on rules for facial recognition, biometric surveillance and other AI applications. be.