New York Times complaint and AI: a hallucinatory remake?

When it comes to errors made by artificial intelligence tools, it’s common to speak of “hallucinations“, a curious term if ever there was one, as if it were almost unrealistic for AI to make mistakes.

How, then, to describe OpenAI and Microsoft’s takeover of several million articles from the respected New York Times newspaper?

The complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan refers to the damage caused by the artificial intelligence’s “hallucinations”, and calls for compensation in view of the serious damage caused to the reputation of the famous newspaper.

Indeed, during this rework, which enables the development of the ChatGPT tool, chatbots can insert erroneous information, or falsely attribute it to a source.

The New York Times bases its complaint on the repurposing of large sections of articles, and not simply the use of articles for AI training, such as an 18-month Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into New York City’s cab industry that was reproduced almost in its entirety.

The New-York Times said the lawsuit “seeks to hold them accountable for the billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages they owe for the illegal copying and use of the New-York Times’ uniquely valuable works“.

Since GPT’s disappearance is out of the question, there can be no doubt that this lawsuit is essentially aimed at initiating a discussion, since the issue of respect for copyright, both in terms of moral rights and the actual exploitation of rights, is the cornerstone of the development of a viable AI in keeping with the spirit of national legislation and international conventions.

The subject deserves to be followed with attention and hope!

– Nathalie FAYETTE, Trademark Attorney and Founder of Mark & Law