The Influence of AI in the Media Work Force: How Companies Use an Array of Legal Remedies

Abstract

The emergence of ChatGPT and other related artificial intelligence systems has posed many questions upon the impact that such tools could have on some jobs, including media workers. Serious legal concerns have arisen regarding the learning practices of AI-related companies such as OpenAI and Google. These concerns involve crawling and extracting presumably unauthorized copyright works from news repositories, whose rightholders are often media companies. In this article, we aim to categorize the newsroom practices and routines affected by artificial intelligence. We also explore copyright-law related issues, including AI-assisted reporting, its impact on journalists and the media workforce, SEO and commercial strategies, as well as training and blocking AI engines. The legal solutions applied to solve those questions are also addressed, including technical solutions, fair use guidelines and legal solutions (litigation, legislative reform, and negotiation). Our conclusion is twofold: first, in the unequal fight against artificial intelligence systems, a utilitarian and entrepreneurial conception of intellectual property is enforced; and second, the position of journalists as authors is weakening.