It doesn’t seem like the battle between robot and human is going to end anytime soon. This is especially evident in the way many people have decided to use robot in their day-to-day activity, instead of paying another human to do the work for them. People have used generative AI programs to create several works of art, including writing, painting, designing, and even writing codes.

This warfare between humans and robots has increased the chances of job losses, which is one of the things that scare humans about the advent of artificial intelligence. Some people worry that generative AI will eventually be able to do many of the jobs that are currently done by humans. For example, generative AI could be used to write articles, design websites, and create marketing materials. This could lead to job losses in a variety of industries. As it is right now, any job that can be automated is at risk. While the risk might not become full-blown overnight, it’s still lurking.

Oh! What is Generative AI?

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, such as text, code, images, and music. It does this by learning from a large dataset of existing content and then generating new content that is similar in style and quality.

Sounds all techy, right?

Think of generative AI as a workaholic sprite you can send to do almost anything for you, and it will do it without asking questions. Only difference is, generative AI will not do some illegal things, unless you are able to trick it.

Generative AI and Literature

Generative AI is already having a major impact on the creative industries. For example, it is being used to create new works of art, music, and literature. It is also being used to develop new products and services. There has been several occasions of people creating different works of art out of simple and well-crafted prompts. Generative AI programs are so smart that just by giving them the simplest of prompts, they can create works that could exceed lots of expectations.

Recently, ChatGPT was used to complete George R. R. Martin’s book. The person used ChatGPT to write long versions of “The Winds of Winter” and “A Dream of Spring,” which are the next two volumes in Martin’s series titled: A Song of Ice and Fire.

Writers are particular getting the shivers, and with the way generative AI programs are getting smarter and more intelligent, winter might be coming soon. Authors like George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and Jonathan Franzen have had their face in the furnace; some people have used generative AI, especially ChatGPT, to finger their works. Of course, this has led to the authors coming together to sue.

Lawsuits? OMG!

In one of the lawsuits, the writers alleged the “flagrant and harmful infringements of plaintiffs’ registered copyrights.” The writers also called ChatGPT a “massive commercial enterprise” that is towing the path of “systematic theft on a mass scale.”

The lawsuit was filed by the Authors Guild, and also include writers like John Grisham, George R. R. Martin, David Baldacci, Sylvia Day, Jonathan Franzen, Elin Hilderbrand; altogether, 17 authors were included in the filing.

Reacting to what the authors called a theft of their intellectual property, the CEO of the Authors Guild, Mary Rasenberger, said in a statement:

“It is imperative that we stop this theft in its tracks or we will destroy our incredible literary culture, which feeds many other creative industries in the US. Great books are generally written by those who spend their careers and, indeed, their lives, learning and perfecting their crafts. To preserve our literature, authors must have the ability to control if and how their works are used by generative AI.”

Two months ago, OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, asked a California court to dismiss two case of property infringement filed against the company by some comedians. OpenAI, in its argument, said that the comedians’ claim “misconceive the scope of copyright, failing to take into account the limitations and exceptions (including fair use) that properly leave room for innovations like the large language models now at the forefront of artificial intelligence.”

Read also: How to protect your eyes from the light emitted by computer screens

Now what?

Lawsuits and call outs like that of the Authors Guild will not happen without having cascading effects of policies, especially by media companies. The developing events is believe to have led to Amazon updating its policy about e-book publishing on its platform. Amazon now request that authors should notify the company ahead, if they will be having AI-generated content in their e-book. In its move to counter the abuse of generative AI to perpetuate copyright infringement, Amazon has also gone ahead to reduce the number of e-books that can be published on it Kindle Direct per day to three, from five.

Some media companies have started to expressly state their unacceptance for AI-generated contents. Companies like Screen Rant wrote in one of its job postings that contents generated by AI will not be allowed from employees.

Obviously, there is a long way to go, and the battle is still raging. Who will win this round? Generative AI or Humans?