the same time, legislative debates are underway regarding whether
and how the use of copyrighted works as AI training data—often
referred to as text and data mining (TDM)—should be permitted
or regulated. In parallel with these legislative efforts, numerous
copyright lawsuits related to training data are currently in progress,
and their outcomes are likely to serve as important reference
points.
From the perspective of users of generative AI, there is a risk of
copyright infringement if the system produces outputs that are
identical or substantially similar to existing works. For this reason,
extra caution is required when using generative AI for publicly
released content to ensure that no infringement occurs. Beyond the
legal risks faced by individual users, it is also important to consider
the broader context. Generative AI is not only built using copyrighted
works but also competes with creative workers in the marketplace,
posing economic threats to their livelihoods. To the extent that
generative AI relies on structures in which creative labor is exploited
without the consent or compensation of creators, it raises serious
ethical and political-economic concerns. Are the data collection
and content generation processes behind the generative AI tools we
use transparent, and are fair compensation mechanisms in place?
The Environmental Costs of Generative AI
Generative AI is an environmentally expensive technology. Training
large-scale models requires vast computational resources, and
the carbon emissions generated in this process can amount to
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