Hey All!
While working on my final paper, I stumbled over an interesting article published by ArsTechnica that has raised my eyebrows, and I am sure it may raise yours as well.
Eric Smith, a writer based in the United States recently “received a ‘DMCA Copyright Infringement Notice’ in late March from “Commonwealth Legal,” representing the “Intellectual Property division” of Tech4Gods[1]. The issue is that Commonwealth Legal has never existed, even though it has a website, and an attorney directory. The attorneys are AI generated, with AI generated headshots, and AI generated biographies. Curiously, the website’s IP is based on Canada. While fake websites are nothing new, and neither are erroneous “infringement notices”, what is novel about this AI firm is the ease to which it can be established. In theory, all that is required to establish this enterprise would be a subscription to ChatGPT, knowledge of basic coding, and purchasing the contact information of online users. As such, this specific instance of an AI generated copyright troll is most likely just the tip of the iceberg of such automated activities online.
As I was reading this article, I could not help but wonder about the state of the internet and the content that we use. This is because a growing percentage of the content we consume is AI generated. For example, a growing amount of TikTok accounts are AI and have become such a problem that there are calls for greater regulation of their content[2]. If enough content becomes AI Generated, it is therefore safe to assume that at some point it may become self-referencing, in the same way that human creators use and reference other works online. The implications here are immense. Firstly, the system of creators and users’ rights would become moot given that AI is currently unable to possess its own rights qua copyright holder. Second, the industries and superstructure built to facilitate the generation of content and media may find itself competing with a tsunami of work that is cheaper to make, and easier to distribute.
A final consideration I had when reading this article was about the state of the internet. The rise of AI accounts has pushed the “dead internet theory” into the mainstream consciousness such that it is quite hard to ignore. Initially a fringe theory on online message boards, it has become the subject of increased discussion, such that it is quite hard to ignore the blurring of lines in interactions between AI and Humans online. I believe that there are huge implications for copyright if a “dead internet” is true. One such consequence may be a decline of creative works being created by humans and shared over the internet. A second is simply growing disfunction in the copyright regime such that it is no longer applicable to online content.
Either way, the rise of AI and its implications for social media and the internet generally are yet to be seen. For a more nuanced discussion about the topic, I’ve included a link to a research paper down below.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-023-01857-0
[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/fake-ai-law-firms-are-sending-fake-dmca-threats-to-generate-fake-seo-gains/
[2] https://www.ccn.com/news/technology/tiktok-ai-influencers-under-scrutiny-following-calls-for-ai-accounts-labeled/
