A group of 26 organizations, including publishing companies and media associations from around the world, have issued a set of “Global Principles on Artificial Intelligence (AI)”, which should govern the development, deployment and regulation of Artificial Intelligence systems and applications in order to curtail the risks posed by the technology.
The organizations, including the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), the News Publishers Association, News Media Europe and News Media Canada, noted that while AI technologies will provide substantial benefits to the public, content creators, businesses and the society at large, they also pose risks for the sustainability of the creative industries, the public’s trust in knowledge, journalism, and science as well as the health of democracies.
Noting that they represent thousands of creative professionals around the world, including news, magazine, and book publishers and the academic publishing industry such as learned societies and university presses, they said they fully embrace the opportunities that AI will bring to their sector but called for the responsible development and deployment of AI systems and applications.
The organizations argued that AI developers and regulators have a unique opportunity to establish an ethical AI framework to boost innovation and create new business opportunities, while ensuring that AI develops in a way that is responsible and sustainable.
But to achieve this, they said, it is essential that AI systems are trained on content and data which is accessed lawfully, including by appropriate prior authorisations obtained for the use of copyright protected works and other subject matter, and that the content and sources used to train the systems are clearly identified.
The organizations said: “Our members invest considerable time and resources creating high-quality content that keeps our communities informed, entertained, and engaged” and explained that the are aimed at ensuring their continued ability to innovate, create and disseminate such content, while facilitating the responsible development of trustworthy AI systems.
According to them, “We strongly believe that these new tools will facilitate innovative breakthroughs when developed in accordance with established principles and laws that protect publishers’ intellectual property (IP), valuable brands, trusted consumer relationships, and investments. The indiscriminate appropriation of our intellectual property by AI systems is unethical, harmful, and an infringement of our protected rights.”
The principles cover issues related to intellectual property, transparency, accountability, quality, integrity, fairness, safety, design and sustainable development.
