ChatGPT -- Use With Care

By Bill (William) Honaker

Intellectual Property Attorney/Speaker at IP Guy

August 17, 2024

ChatGPT is all over the news. Pundits review it in awe; it’s either an amazing new tool that will revolutionize the world, or a potential evil that will change everything for the worse. It’s been reported that it will displace knowledge workers. It can write articles in seconds, write, debug and explain computer code, and create original stories in the style of Hemingway or Shakespeare, and in multiple languages. Other AI systems can create artwork from prompts (“Zarya of the Dawn”), have a singer virtually perform another singer’s music (Rihanna AI generated cover of Beyonce’s “Cuff It”) and have singers appear to sing a new song they’ve never actually sung. (AI generated Drake and The Weeknd sing, “Heart on my Sleeve”).

ChatGPT is an AI language model that has the ability to generate all of this, and more, based upon prompts the user inputs. I typed the prompt, “give me a 700-word article on the copyright infringement issues, related to ChatGPT.” In seconds, I was presented with an article. It was an interesting article, written with authority, and sounded pretty good, and it was mostly wrong. If you weren’t an expert, you wouldn’t know how wrong it was. I also asked for my biography, which it created in seconds. It was correct about me being a lawyer and an engineer, but wrong on where I went to school, where I worked, and awards I had received. Bard, a similar AI from Google, was asked for a great place to visit in New Hampshire, and it created a city that doesn’t exist, along with fictitious attractions and restaurants. It was also asked about inflation, and Bard recommended several books that were never written. The developers of AI call these Hallucinations.

Caution 1 – Don’t expect the results to be accurate. I have found that the results are just close enough to appear correct, but aren’t. For example, the ChatGPT article suggested that ChatGPT programmers would own the copyright to any output. Sounds plausible, but its wrong. Only humans can own copyrights. An article generated by prompts given to ChatGPT has no copyright, and is owned by no one. On March 16, 2023, the US copyright office issued guidelines making this clear.

Caution 2 – Since material generated by ChatGPT is unlikely to be protected by copyright, it’s free for anyone to use. I say not likely because it depends on how it was generated, edited and arranged. As noted above, the copyright office refused copyright protection for images in a children’s book that were created by AI. Another AI generated work “A Recent Entrance to Paradise” was refused protection, and the applicant Stephen Thaler, sued the Copyright Office in Federal Court to force its registration. That case is pending.

Caution 3 – You might get sued for copyright infringement. ChatGPT is trained on human-generated text, so your results may be similar to, or the same as existing text, and that will set off the plagiarism detectors. This could be embarrassing at best, or at worst, a lawsuit for copyright infringement. I ran my AI article through a couple of plagiarism sites. One said it was likely plagiarized, and another indicated no plagiarism. The fact that one showed plagiarism was enough to cause me concern about using the AI-generated content.

Caution 4 – You could lose confidential information. Samsung just experienced this. Two different programmers loaded confidential computer code into the prompt to help solve a problem. Another employee loaded a recorded confidential meeting to create meeting minutes. These now will become part of ChatGPT’s learning library; clearly not where you want your corporate trade secrets to be disclosed. Valuable trade secrets may have been lost using ChatGPT. It’s unclear if this information can be accessed, or whether it will appear in future responses to prompts.

The Takeaway

ChatGPT may be a dream or a nightmare. Its development will be fascinating. What is certain is that you must exercise care in its use. Business owners must create new process policies around its application. You can’t rely on what it reports, it hallucinates. Anything generated needs to be reworked for accuracy, changed enough to avoid infringement of others’ works, and edited to give you the potential for copyright protection. Avoid using prompts that contain confidential information. It’s likely that such actions will result in the loss of your trade secrets. Overall it’s fun to experiment with this new technology, but be careful when you use it.

About the Author:

Bill Honaker, “The IP Guy” is a former USPTO Examiner, a partner with Dickinson-Wright, and author of the forthcoming book, "Invisible Assets – How to Maximize the Hidden Value in Your Business." Email Bill@IPGuy.com, or call him at 248-433-7381.

MSE Detroit LinkedIn Page

We would like to invite you to follow MSE Detroit’s updated LinkedIn site at https://www.linkedin.com/company/2391681

Looking forward to connecting with you and seeing you at our events.

Book Recommendation

From Joe Melnick, MSE Detroit Treasurer

"Smarter Collaboration: A New Approach to Breaking Down Barriers and Transforming Work"

by Heidi K. Gardner and Ivan A. Matviak

From GoodReads:

"Market volatility. Sustainability demands. Hybrid working. Opportunities and hazards of fast-changing technology and regulations. Companies and nonprofits face more daunting challenges than ever. How can we collaborate in our organizations—and with outside partners—to solve problems, innovate, and succeed?

This indispensable new book lays out a pragmatic action plan blending rich stories, new empirical research, and loads of practical advice to help companies thrive by collaborating more effectively. As Heidi K. Gardner and Ivan A. Matviak show, firms that collaborate smarter consistently generate higher revenues and profits, boost innovation, strengthen client relationships, and attract and retain better talent. In this successor to Gardner's bestselling first book, Smart Collaboration, the authors expand their mandate, illustrating the fundamental dynamics of collaborating well across industries like financial services, health care, biotech/pharma, consumer products, automotive, and technology.

Based on their research with thousands of executives from around the world, they share deep insights on how to implement smarter collaboration and avoid the potential pitfalls. They also help leaders troubleshoot thorny challenges like misaligned incentives, collaboration overload, and unintended consequences on diversity and inclusion."

Seeking Board Members

Two MSE Detroit board positions will be opening soon. If you have "a passion for the craft" of marketing and sales, and are interested in working with MSE Detroit,

please contact Ann Bruttell, MSE Detroit president, at meetings@meeting-coordinators.com.

We are also looking for Program Committee members!

MSE Detroit Members:

Would you be willing to be our "Member Spotlight" in the monthly newsletter?

Do you have a career accomplishment or press release to share?

Have you read a book on leadership/sales/marketing that you think others would benefit from?

Have a link to a blog/podcast/article that you think would benefit MSE Detroit members?

We would love to hear from you at meetings@meeting-coordinators.com.

SPONSORSHIPS

are available for all MSE Detroit Programs.

Check out our sponsorships HERE.

Looking for a customized sponsorship?

Call us at 248-643-6590 or

email meetings@meeting-coordinators.com.



News from our Sandler & Gerry Weinberg & Associates Friends



MSE Detroit is developing a series of programs for our members to present to chambers of commerce and businesses on the following topics. Should you desire to help us with this project and volunteer as an industry expert speaker, please let us know.

1. Digital Transformation and Innovation in Marketing

2. Customer Experience and Engagement

3. Content Marketing and Storytelling

4. Social Media and Influencer Marketing

5. Sales Strategies and Technologies

6. Data Privacy and Ethical Marketing

7. Market Research and Consumer Insights

8. Brand Management and Positioning

9. E-commerce and Digital Sales

10. Global Marketing Strategies

11. Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility

12. Leadership and Talent Development

13. Emerging Technologies

14. Crisis Management and Resilience

15. Networking and Collaboration