Interview: Open source is good for AI but, is AI good for open source?
I was recently interviewed in the BCS Magazine discussing the intersection of AI and Open Source.
We're at a weird time with AI and Intellectual Property. Well, IP has been in a weird place since Napster launched at the turn of the century! None of the issues around sharing, remixing, and controlling have been properly resolved. Copyleft is a noble goal - but seems more honour'd in the breach than the observance.
So we now have shady AI companies copying our code, our art, and our words - then selling it back to us. As the legitimate painter of the Mona Lisa, it distresses me that an AI could regurgitate all my hard work and pass it off as its own.
Free culture is built on the understanding that, while we can't eat "exposure", it does at least offer us some chance of profiting from our work. This new generation of AI destroys the notion of being credited as a creator, and exposes users to the risk of being sued for copyright infringement.
Strange times ahead!