Virtually all businesses, whether they focus on this fact or not, are affected by or are actually using GAI (generative AI) right now, and incurring possible legal exposure. The involvement and thus potential risk is broad.
I know this sounds like the usual lawyer hysteria whenever something new hits the business world, followed by the admonition that you had better lawyer up right away. The problem today is that the warning I am giving you is, this time, subtle but real, perhaps hidden but nonetheless significant and without an easy fix.
Summary: GAI, as provided by many vendors including the company Open AI which offers the most ubiquitous service CHAT GPT, is not generally policed by Federal law, is policed lightly and unevenly by certain States and cities, and is embedded in many things that affect your company:
* meetings you attend on line are conducted by services which take notes for you and those notes, which may contain business secrets or personal information, get dropped into the data bases that educate AI; information you want to keep private may pop up as an answer to someone else’s question posed to an AI engine
*your vendors provide advice or product designs which, unknown to you, were generated by AI, which is often inaccurate and which also may contain information or images which were scooped up by your vendor’s AI in violation of someone else’s copyrights or protected trade marks
*your contracts do not address allocation of, or protection from, risk, if you are sued for infringements, disclosure of personal information or breach of contract, either because of what you have inadvertently done or what your supplier has inadvertently done–and your insurance is not geared to protect you from such risks
*your HR people, or the firms advising them, may be screening employees using AI which contains implicit bias as it reviews resumes, sets salary recommendations, or uses recognition AI to screen facial reactions of candidates, in violation of labor laws
*an AI-generated face or group of faces used in your publicity or advertising may be based on a well-known face in the public realm to such a degree that they are confusingly identified as that public figure
This is just a smattering of a highly complex set of issues. These are not speculative; there are lawsuits today making claims. that come as a complete surprise. against inadvertently liable companies. There are steps you can take, in terms of internal practices, contracts, insurance, disclaimers and policies to protect your business. How do you navigate these issues today?
Answer: While I do not generally tout my firm’s materials (yes, we are a great firm but the purpose of this blogsite is to alert readers, not sell our services), I have just seen the first of a series of one-hour presentations by members of the Duane Morris AI practice group that is enormously granular and educational, and is replete with slide decks to help you absorb information that is coming at you from unexpected directions.
In my original post of the above, I concluded by saying: “I hope in a few days to obtain and share a link to this presentation.” Turns out, due to mechanics, I can send you the link but must do so by email. If you would like a forward, please email me at the below and I will send the link to you: