Google’s SynthID text watermarking technology, a tool the company created to make AI-generated text easier to identify, is now available open-source through the Google Responsible Generative AI Toolkit, the company announced on X. Watermarks have become increasingly important tools as large language models are used to spread political misinformation, generate nonconsensual sexual content, and for other malicious purposes.
Source: Google open-sourced its watermarking tool for AI-generated text
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt emerged Tuesday as one of Hollywood’s most vocal critics of artificial intelligence, saying the new technology represents a threat to the work he and other performers do. “The sleight of hand of calling something ‘artificial intelligence’ makes you ignore the fact that these were created by humans,” he said in an interview at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live. The companies have to answer for the years of work they are using to train models now valued in the billions of dollars, he said.
More than 10,500 creative professionals, including Thom Yorke from Radiohead, actress Julianne Moore and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, have signed an open letter condemning “unlicensed use of creative works” to develop artificial intelligence systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Use of creative work without a license for AI development is “a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted,” the brief, 29-word letter says.
Source: More than 10,500 actors, musicians and authors protest tech’s AI data grab
OpenAI and Microsoft are funding projects to bring more AI tools into the newsroom. The duo will give grants of up to $10 million to Chicago Public Media, the Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday (in Long Island, NY), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Seattle Times. Each of the publications will hire a two-year AI fellow to develop projects for implementing the technology and improving business sustainability.
Source: OpenAI and Microsoft are funding $10 million in grants for AI-powered journalism
Sotheby’s will sell its first work credited to a humanoid robot using artificial intelligence (AI) later this month. A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing (2024) was created by Ai-Da Robot, the artist robot and brainchild of Oxford gallerist Aidan Meller. The painting is estimated by Sotheby’s to sell for between $120,000 and $180,000 on 31 October. Fittingly, Sotheby’s will accept cryptocurrency for the transaction.
Source: Painting by AI robot Ai-Da could bring more than $120,000 at Sotheby’s
Media creatives are now presented with a huge selection of generative AI Tools that offer new ways of creating images, text, voices and music. However, a key issue related to the technology still needs to be addressed: have these AI tools been created ethically?
Source: AI could transform film visual effects. But first, the technology needs to address copyright debate
As a growing list of companies are finding out – or being reminded – via litigation, social media platforms’ pre-cleared song libraries are generally licensed for personal as opposed to professional use. There’s also another layer of complexity (at least for companies and professionals situated outside the industry) given how quickly usage rules and infringement responses can change on social services.
Source: NBA Teams Fire Back Against Music Publishers’ Lawsuits
In June, the $500 million company was sued by the major record companies, along with fellow AI firm Udio, for allegedly training their systems using the majors’ recordings without permission – an accusation they pretty much admitted to in court filings in August. The legal headache and negative perception in the record industry don’t seem to have stopped one Grammy-winning artist and producer from working with the company.
Book publisher Penguin Random House is putting its stance on AI training in print. The standard copyright page on both new and reprinted books will now say, “No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems,” according to a report from The Bookseller spotted by Gizmodo.
Source: Penguin Random House books now explicitly say ‘no’ to AI training
The tech giant announced Thursday that it has been working with horror studio Blumhouse and select creators as part of a pilot program for Movie Gen, its generative-AI video models. The company said it will continue to expand the program in 2025. Meta earlier this month unveiled Meta Movie Gen, a suite of AI models that can use text inputs to produce realistic-looking videos as well as edit existing videos.
Source: Meta Teams With Blumhouse and Filmmakers Like Casey Affleck to Test Movie Gen AI Tool