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Microsoft 365 Copilot is Here. What Are the Legal Risks of Using It?
Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024
Microsoft 365 Copilot is here. Will it be a big timesaver for your business? Does using it present significant legal risks? Copilot adds generative AI capability to core Microsoft Office applications, such as Word, Outlook, Excel, Teams, and PowerPoint. It can be used to create, summarize, and analyze things in those applications. For example, purportedly, Read the full article…
The First Battles in the Legal War Over the Future of AI Have Begun
Tuesday, November 21st, 2023
As of this writing, Sam Altman is still out as CEO of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The Economist depicts this firing as a battle in the war between AI “boomers” and “doomers.” The doomers believe AI threatens humanity and must be constrained. The boomers believe this threat is overstated and that AI progress should Read the full article…
Regulating AI to Protect Society: Where Things Stand and May Be Going
Wednesday, October 18th, 2023
Do you worry about AI destroying your future? Is there any chance that government regulation will save you? To give shape to your fear, pick your favorite dystopian sci-fi movie: o Metropolis (1927) – AI-like robot Maria is used to manipulate the working class. o 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – A spaceship’s onboard AI Read the full article…
Beware of Defamation Liability for Reposting Material on Social Media
Thursday, September 21st, 2023
Can you be held personally liable for reposting something defamatory on social media? A Richmond federal judge recently held you can be. The judge made this ruling in a case with jaw-dropping allegations. The case hasn’t yet gone to trial, and nothing has been proven, so I’ll refrain from giving the litigants’ real names. The Read the full article…
The Experiment Failed: AI Isn’t Yet Ready to Be a Good Document Summarizer
Wednesday, August 16th, 2023
Have you worried about whether you are missing a trick in incorporating AI into your business? I recently did an experiment that revealed AI is not yet ready for prime time for a key function: legal document summarization. What I learned applies to summarizing any important document. I worked with a computer science Ph.D. candidate Read the full article…
When Trademark Rights Collide with Free Speech, Which Wins?
Sunday, July 23rd, 2023
The Supreme Court recently decided a case on the balance between trademark rights and free speech, especially when parody products are at issue. The case addressed something less lofty: whiskey and dog poop. VIP Products makes a line of dog chew toys called “Silly Squeakers,” which parodies famous commercial products. One rubber toy replicates a Read the full article…
Fair Use Protection Against Copyright Infringement Claims Just Got Smaller
Friday, June 23rd, 2023
Regarding copyright fair use, are we being ruled from beyond the grave by artists who died young? The Supreme Court just decided an important fair use case against the Andy Warhol Foundation (Warhol died at age 58) concerning art he created based on a photograph of the musician Prince (died at 57). In doing so, Read the full article…
Will Copyright Law Wipe Out Generative AIs Such As ChatGPT?
Wednesday, May 17th, 2023
Do you fear generative AIs such as ChatGPT will destroy your earning power? Do you worry about AIs turning on mankind? If you’re hoping for a savior to smite generative AI, could copyright law be it? By analogy, think of H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. In it, Martians, who have superior military Read the full article…
Using an AI Service for Business Contracting: Are We There Yet?
Wednesday, April 19th, 2023
Since the public launch of ChatGPT late last year, I have been inundated with solicitations from companies offering new AI tools for business contracting. Are they ready for prime time? These AI products generally claim they can do three things: summarize a contract, review a contract for certain kinds of terms (e.g., limitation on liability), Read the full article…
Subscribe to John’s Substack – More Detailed Versions of Monthly Columns
Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
Here’s my new Substack: johnfarmer.substack.comPlease consider subscribing. When I write my monthly column for the newspaper, I must squeeze it down to about 750 words for publication purposes. Frequently, my good final draft is longer, sometimes twice as long. I must cut important information about the topic to meet the word limit. On my Substack, Read the full article…
