Japan Newspaper Association Worried About Generative AI

The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association has issued a statement expressing concern about the unauthorized and unregulated use of news content by generative artificial intelligence. From the perspective of the legal system as a whole, the association calls on the government to expedite institutional measures to bring generative AI into harmony with society.

In its opinion on the use of news content by generative AI, the association said Wednesday that the unauthorized and unregulated use of news articles, photos, images and other content by generative AI constitutes a healthy speech space. Said it could be damaged. For this reason, the association emphasized, “If this discourse space continues to be destroyed, it will lead to social chaos.”

To address this situation, the association has also enacted rules requiring AI developers to disclose which media outlets’ content has been used for training data, as well as enacted relevant legislation. , called on the government to help the social system keep up with developments.

First and foremost, mislead public opinion by spreading false, harmful, or politically-motivated information on the Internet, as AI can generate answers that contain errors or inaccurate information. The association said it is possible. The association expressed concern that the technology could also enable mass production of new articles by combining multiple news agency articles. The association believes that the data used for AI training is likely to include “sensitive personal information,” which in principle is prohibited even to be obtained without the consent of the individual, and that AI does not include such information. He pointed out that there is a risk that in that answer.

The association also noted growing concerns over the unauthorized and unregulated use of articles, photos, images and other content by AI from news outlets such as newspapers and news agencies. Specifically, the AI ​​is importing massive amounts of articles, photos, images and other data from media outlets’ digital news sites without permission to develop commercial AI services for third parties, the association said. . The association argued that such practices “could conflict with existing database sales markets and unduly harm the interests of copyright owners.”

The association also noted that the revision of Japan’s copyright law in 2018 made it legal in principle to collect and use existing copyrighted works without permission in the process of developing technologies such as AI. This provision is significantly relaxed compared to standards in Western countries.

Regarding the deliberation process of the revised bill, the association said, “There were few references to AI, and the government did not point out that AI could create new expressive works and threaten rights holders.” For this reason, rights holders do not consider the use of copyrighted works for technological development to be a problem, which is why the law was revised in favor of AI development without any major debate in the Diet. ”

The association said, “If this kind of destruction of the space of speech progresses, it will lead to social chaos.

The association called on the government to take urgent institutional measures to ensure the harmonious development of generative AI with society from the perspective of the entire legal system, including copyright law and personal information protection law.