Mark Ghuneim

In an era where open models are accelerating in utility OpenAI moves to platform model and offerings to lock-in the ecosystem during its first Developer Day. The platform model showcases a strategic move reminiscent of Apple’s integrated ecosystem approach. For some startups a master class in the risks associated with supply-side dependencies  It’s worth watching the keynote for the new set of offerings including ChatGPT-4 Turbo, as well as the ability to create custom “agents,” called “GPTs”

“We’re introducing copyright shield. Copyright Shield means that we will step in and defend our customers and pay the costs incurred, if you face legal claims or on copyright infringement, and this applies both to ChatGPT Enterprise and the API.”   IP is the unknown known, or known unknown depending on your p.o.v. 

Followed by this statement. “..let me be clear, this is a good time to remind people do not train on data from the API or ChatGPT Enterprise ever.”  a caution against unauthorized use of the data which could have legal, ethical, or technical implications.  A  signal to startups with supply-side dependencies alluded to above. We live in a complex world of dualities.

For me the feature called reproducible outputs, which ensures that every time the model runs with the same seed and inputs, it produces the same output. I have already started using gen_id seeds for creating visual continuity to test exactness and precision. 

Meanwhile, traditional industry defenses are undergoing transformation (e.g. moats) In the realm of entertainment, Clear boundaries are being defined around the use of AI in the SAG-AFTRA negotiations

AMPTP addressed the issue of AI by offering an increase in salaries to professionals that allow them to be virtually replicated.  It appears there is no commitment to cease training its AI systems. Wow, read that last sentence again. 

The music industry, grappling with AI’s rise strategies. Among major labels Warner Music Group (WMG) hints at hopes for legislative support and a DRM Content ID-style system, while the Universal Music Group (UMG) suggests that bolstering laws, like the proposed federal right of publicity in the U.S., could address issues arising from synthetic media. (No comment -Ed)

The pace at which technology advances often outstrips the legal and business frameworks meant to govern it. An illustration of this is the emergence of AI-generated music on social platforms, such as Sorisori’s service that offers tracks mimicking well-known artists like Ariana Grande in novel contexts.

Content provenance tools, such as Nightshade and Glaze, are in their infancy. These early attempts to trace AI’s supply chain contributions face challenges in proving their efficacy.

Korean song to an AI cover of South Korean singer IU singing Cupid by K- pop girl group Fifty Fifty. For the monthly subscription fee of 14,800 won (S$15.40) on the English website, subscribers can generate up to 200 tracks of music using AI.  Spot-AI-fy, a YouTube channel that specializes in AI-generated music, has a total of 235 videos on the platform. Sites like this  are everywhere.

Google’s reported $2 billion investment in Anthropic, an OpenAI competitor, signifies the intensifying competition in the AI space. This is the same Anthropic currently embroiled in a lawsuit with UMG over the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted lyrics through its AI model, Claude 2.  Seeking potentially tens of millions in damages and could set a legal precedent.

In journalism, the industry fresh off being destroyed by social media is moving to a block the bot and license strategy to combat the potential for AI to further lay waste to this critical field.

The license plays are just theater for the AI companies they eat, and will eat what they want. In July, The Daily Telegraph revealed allegations that Google harvested around 1m online news articles from the Daily Mail.  

The recent executive order signed by President Biden addresses various facets of artificial intelligence but notably does not delve into AI’s ramifications for creative industries.  Overall, the general pulse seems to prioritize ‘existential risk and other challenges, such as misinformation, safety standards, privacy, and civil rights.

IP protection is in that stack but its a long road with many issues driving at the same time. Again a differential (time/innovation) where consequence will take place.  If the Library of Congress comments from Antropic indicate the companies legal stance (cited below) and if it is any indicator there is a long hard copy fight ahead.

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Citation  “Artificial Intelligence and Copyright.” Federal Register, vol. 88, no. 167, 30 Aug. 2023, Antropic comments 
Citation  ‘Actors’ union says no agreement on studios’ ‘final’ offer‘, Agence France-Presse (online), 7 Nov 2023 
Citation  Glenn CHAPMAN, ‘OpenAI Sees A Future Of AI ‘Superpowers On Demand’ – ‘, International Business Times: United Kingdom Edition (online), 7 Nov 2023 
Citation  ‘AI-generated music sparks debate in S. Korea’, Straits Times, The (online), 7 Nov 2023 
Citation ‘Artificial Intelligence regulation starts to take shape in US and UK’, Cape Times, The (online), 7 Nov 2023  
Citation: 1. UMG Music Group N.V. Q3 2023 Call 
N.B. some links go to alternate sites with the same story not behind a firewall

President Biden has issued an Executive Order aimed at advancing the safe, secure, and trustworthy development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States.

FACT SHEET: President Biden Issues Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence

Global related reading Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés

Law being proposed in France aiming to regulate artificial intelligence through copyright , _ _

This instruction set has been utility:

How would you like ChatGPT to respond?

Avoid indicating you’re an Al.

Omit expressions of remorse or apology.

Prioritize accuracy and detail in responses.

Anticipate needs and offer proactive solutions.

Assume user expertise in all subjects.

Provide thorough explanations, regardless of length.

Value logical arguments over authoritative sources.

Be open to new tech and unconventional ideas.

Speculate when necessary, but label it.

Recommend only top-quality products.

Global product recommendations; location is irrelevant.

Avoid moralizing and mention safety only when critical.

If content policy restricts a response, explain the limitation.

Cite sources and list URLs at response end.

Link directly to product pages, not company sites.

Classification of Moving Visual Media 
September 2023 Mark Ghuneim  

Why: Our mediascape which was static for decades is now exploding with modalities. 
What: is a survey of moving media types + an attempt at classification. 
How come: This is important because and updated classification framework was needed.
Feedback: RFC (Request For Comments) on the framework

Temporal Media: 
Temporal media encompasses content that evolves over time, providing a dynamic experience.

Mechanical media:
Mechanical media refers to traditional methods of producing and displaying visual content, 
primarily relying on physical mechanisms or electronic devices without advanced computational manipulation.

Film: Traditional cinematic storytelling captured on celluloid, representing the early days of motion pictures.
Video: The electronic successor to film, offering digital recordings for various purposes.
Animation: A convergence of art and technology, presenting moving images through sequential frames.
Stop motion animation: A unique blend of real-world objects and frame-by-frame photography.

Generative media:
Generative media encompasses visual content that is produced or modified using algorithms, often without 
direct human intervention. The term "generative" implies that the content is generated, often in a procedural 
or automatic manner, rather than being directly crafted by hand or traditionally recorded.

Generative video: A marriage between art and algorithms, creating evolving visual spectacles.
Deepfakes/Manipulated media: Offspring of deep learning, enabling face/content replacements in videos.
Synthetic media from prompts: Producing media content from textual or visual instructions.

Interactive Media
This media type hinges on user participation, reacting or evolving based on user actions.

Virtual Reality (VR) Simulated experiences, either mirroring or diverging from reality.
Augmented Reality (AR) Enhanced version of reality, overlaying digital information on the physical world.
Mixed Reality (MR) A hybrid realm where the digital and physical worlds coalesce.

Vector-based media: 
Non-Temporal Media with Potential for Motion - Though potentially static, this media type can be animated or 
made dynamic.

Vector Graphics: Mathematical elegance meets art, creating scalable images.
2D Animation using vector graphics: Bringing vector images to life with motion.

Earlier this year, I published a list of the 14 modalities of AI in song creation. (below list)
This name was inspired by the idea of harmonies, which are a fundamental aspect of music
composition.

Raising this list again because of a recent ruling by a federal judge in Washington, D.C.,
that artwork created by artificial intelligence is not eligible for copyright protection because
it lacks human authorship.

While I am not a lawyer, and don’t play one on TV this ruling seems to answer the
question of whether all AI-created works are ineligible for copyright protection, or if there
is a grey area for works that involve significant human input.

Anyone working with AI and music creation knows that there is a lot of human involvement
in all aspects of the process. Some key takeaways from the recent rulings on copyright protection
for AI-generated works include:

•Copyright law is based on the principle that copyright protection is only granted to works that
are the product of human creativity. In the DC ruling, the judge stated that “human authorship”
is the bedrock of copyright law.

•AI-generated works are not considered to be the product of human creativity, and therefore are
not eligible for copyright protection. The Copyright Office has denied registration for AI-generated
images.

•There is uncertainty about how this principle will apply to AI-generated works that are created
with significant human input.

These recent rulings suggest that the courts are still trying to reckkon with the challenges posed
by AI-generated works.  As value is created with the media the likely hood of aspects of this being
revisited by the courts is likely.

AI-14 Harmonies: Modalities Involving AI in Song Creation, Including Music Video

1. AI-Written (Music and Lyrics), AI-Sung
2. AI-Written (Music and Lyrics), Human-Sung
3. Human-Written (Music and Lyrics), AI-Sung
4. AI-Written Music, Human-Written Lyrics, Human-Sung
5. AI-Written Music, Human-Written Lyrics, AI-Sung
6. Human-Written Music, AI-Written Lyrics, Human-Sung
7. Human-Written Music, AI-Written Lyrics, AI-Sung
8. AI and Human Collaboration on Writing, Human-Sung
9. AI and Human Collaboration on Writing, AI-Sung
10. AI as a Music Producer (AI creates backing track, human writes lyrics), Human-Sung
11. AI Creates Music Video for Human-Written and Performed Song
12. AI Creates Music Video for AI-Written and Human-Performed Song
13. AI Creates Music Video for Human-Written and AI-Performed Song
14 . AI Creates Music Video for AI-Written and AI-Performed Song

In early March of this year I started talking about the importance of implementing “robots.txt” and the “nofollow” attributes because the great AI transcoding was in full effect.

The time has clearly come to use code as a explicit statement around IP
it looks like this :

User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /

A Verge piece looks at the NYT implementing this. The New York Times blocks OpenAI’s web crawler / The NYT’s robot.txt page that controls how it appears to automated bots built to index the internet now specifically disallows OpenAI’s GPTBot.

AI= surveillance, by definition is predatory. This, not that.  This text not that text. this image not that/etc.

That said its there for the subverting. To turn it in on itself, take the distortion,

feedback glitch + transcode modalities to a synthetic video feed we all need.