AI – The Artificial Intelligence Blog

December 5, 2024December 5, 2024 by Duane Morris

Webinar: Understanding Data Licensing in the World of AI

Duane Morris’ Technology Transactions, Licensing and Commercial Contracts Group presents a webinar, Understanding Data Licensing in the World of AI, to be held on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

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As we head into 2025, more and more of our clients are negotiating data licensing agreements and asking for assistance in understanding a company’s rights regarding data. This webinar will review intellectual property rights with regard to data, the frequent use and terms of creative commons licenses with datasets, and important and commonly negotiated terms in data licensing agreements, with our attorneys providing thoughts on these issues and how they relate to AI. Learn more.

September 26, 2024September 26, 2024 by Sarah O'Laughlin Kulik

Further Focus on AI Washing: FTC announces Operation AI Comply

The Federal Trade Commission filed lawsuits against five different companies alleging that those companies either made deceptive claims about AI products and services, or used AI in deceptive ways. The FTC announced that these lawsuits are part of a crackdown on companies allegedly engaging in this behavior called “Operation AI Comply.” AI washing has been a recent focus of federal enforcers. This week’s lawsuits represent another step taken by the FTC furthering its position that there is no AI exception to the law.

September 18, 2024September 18, 2024 by Duane Morris

The AI Update | September 18, 2024

#HelloWorld. It’s been a long summer hiatus. Please bear with us as we play our way back into shape. In this issue, we recap the summer highlights of AI legal and regulatory developments. Of course, the EU AI Act, but not just the EU AI Act. California continues to enact headline-grabbing AI legislation, content owners continue to ink deals with AI model developers, and what would a month in the federal courts be without another AI lawsuit or two. Let’s stay smart together. (Subscribe to the mailing list to receive future issues.)

August 15, 2024August 15, 2024 by Duane Morris

Illinois Enacts AI Law Focused on Employment Practices

On August 9, 2024, Illinois enacted its landmark artificial intelligence employment law, HB 3773. This legislation, which amends the Illinois Human Rights Act, endeavors to prevent discriminatory consequences of using AI in employment decision-making processes. This law goes into effect on January 1, 2026. Illinois is one of 34 states that have either enacted or proposed laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence. Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris website.

July 23, 2024 by Duane Morris

AI Adoption in the Energy Space

Last year, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14110 on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” Since the issuance of the executive order, a lot of attention has been focused on the provision requiring “the head of each agency with relevant regulatory authority over critical infrastructure … to assess potential risks related to the use of AI in critical infrastructure sectors involved, … and to consider ways to mitigate these vulnerabilities.” Naturally, government agencies generated numerous reports cataloging the well-documented risks of AI. At the same time, nearly every company has implemented risk-mitigation guidelines governing the use of artificial intelligence. To be sure, the risks of AI are real, from privacy and cybersecurity concerns, to potential copyright infringements, to broader societal risks posed by automated decision-making tools. Perhaps because of these risks, less attention has been focused on the offensive applications of AI, and relatedly, fewer companies have implemented guidelines promoting the use of artificial intelligence. Those companies may be missing out on opportunities to reduce legal risks, as a recent report by the Department of Energy highlights.

Read The Legal Intelligencer article by Duane Morris partners Phil Cha and Brian H. Pandya.

July 16, 2024 by Duane Morris

All Eyes on AI Discrimination Suit

In Mobley v. Workday, Inc., Case No. 23-CV-770 (N.D. Cal. July 12, 2024) (ECF No. 80), Judge Rita F. Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted in part and denied in part Workday’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint concerning allegations that Workday’s algorithm-based screening tools discriminated against applicants on the basis of race, age, and disability. This litigation has been closely watched for its novel case theory based on artificial intelligence use in making personnel decisions. For employers utilizing artificial intelligence in their hiring practices, tracking the developments in this cutting-edge case is paramount. This ruling illustrates that employment screening vendors who utilize AI software may potentially be liable for discrimination claims as agents of employers.

Read the full post on the Duane Morris Class Action Defense Blog.

July 10, 2024 by Duane Morris

Getting Ahead of New Risks in Commercial Transactions in the Age of AI

The pervasiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the commercial transactions landscape. Providers across industries are looking to utilize third-party AI tools, or utilize customer data to train AI models, in connection with providing services or implementing use cases proposed by their customers to create efficiencies and cost savings. The intellectual property (IP) stakes are heightened, and parties on either side of a transaction will need to carefully leverage agreements to maintain IP rights in their own data, secure IP rights in resulting products, and protect themselves against claims of infringement.

Read the full Landslide article by Duane Morris’ Ariel Seidner. (ABA membership required.)

July 1, 2024 by Duane Morris

Navigating the Use of AI Tools in Legal Practice Before Pa.’s Federal District Courts

By now, litigators appreciate that a degree of technological expertise is needed to practice law effectively. Everyone has heard about the unfortunate attorney in Texas who appeared at a Zoom hearing as a worried kitten. But in the past year, attorneys have become more attuned to the potential and risks of artificial intelligence (AI). Last June, lawyers in New York made headlines after relying on a chatbot’s research skills, leading to sanctions for unknowingly submitting fictitious caselaw. One journalist even found himself in a love triangle with a chatbot bent on ending his marriage. In spite of these cautionary tales, the use of AI in the legal profession is on the rise as trusted legal research services like LexisNexis and Westlaw roll out AI-assisted research functions and major tech companies integrate AI into their products.

Read The Legal Intelligencer article by Rachel Good on the Duane Morris website.

April 30, 2024April 30, 2024 by Agatha H. Liu

When Does Use of AI Set Off an Alarm in the Invention Process?

As generative AI is increasingly used to process information and generate new content, one possible application is to create an alternative embodiment in a patent application. This could happen when an inventor creates an original embodiment, and then instructs an AI system to create a variant of the original embodiment to achieve broad coverage. Conceivably, the AI system is configured to create an alternative embodiment based on existing data used to train the AI system or additional information that can introduce changes to the original embodiment, such as prior art in the field. Would such use of AI be an innocent act or should it trigger an alarm like certain other uses of AI?

Continue reading “When Does Use of AI Set Off an Alarm in the Invention Process?”

April 10, 2024 by Duane Morris

Webinar: Tech Sector Regulations, Developments and Trends in the U.S., U.K. and EU

Duane Morris’ Technology, Media and Telecom Industry Group will present a webinar, Tech Sector Sanctions, Export Controls and Foreign Investment Rules in the U.S., the U.K. and the EU, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time | 5:00 p.m. London time.

The speakers will discuss recent U.S. executive orders and national security directives on inbound and outbound investment, artificial intelligence and sensitive personal data, as well as other developments and trends. REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR.