OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Sam Altman are in massive trouble. OpenAI is getting sued in the US for illegally using content from the internet to train their LLM or large language models

  • tallwookie@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    if you release data into the public domain (aka, if it’s indexable by a search engine) then copying that data isnt stealing - it cant be, the data was already public in the first place.

    this is just some lawyer trying to make a name for themselves

    • jambalaya@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Just because the data is “public” doesn’t mean it was intended to be used in this manner. Some of the data was even explicitly protected by gpl licensing or similar.

      • tallwookie@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        but GPL licensing indicates that “If code was put in the public domain by its developer, it is in the public domain no matter where it has been” - so, likewise for data. if anyone has a case against OpenAI, it’d be whatever platforms they scraped - and ultimately those platforms would open their own, individual lawsuits.

            • Wander@kbin.social
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              2 years ago

              If you release code under gpl, and I modify it, I’m required to release those modifications publicly under gpl as well.

              • inspxtr@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                so if content is under GPL and used for training data, how far is the process of training/fine-tuning considered “modification”? For example, if I scrape a bunch of blog posts and just try to use tools to analyze the language, does that considered “modification”? What is the minimum solution that OpenAI should do (or should have done) here, does it stop at making the code for processing the data public, or the entire code base?

                • Wander@kbin.social
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                  2 years ago

                  I’m not sure. And I’m not sure there’s legal precedant for that either.
                  That’s why I dont have a problem with any of these lawsuits, it gives us clarity on the legal aspects, whichever way it goes.

    • Toothpickjim@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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      2 years ago

      Not everything indexed by a search engine is public domain that’s not how copyright works.

      There’s plenty that actually is in the public domain but I guess scraping the web is a lot easier for these people

    • ChrisLicht@lemm.ee
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      2 years ago

      Let’s note that a NY Magazine article is copyrighted but publicly available.

      If an LLM scrapes that article, then regurgitates pieces of it verbatim in response to prompts, without quoting or parodying, that is clearly a violation of NY Mag’s copyright.

      If an LLM merely consumes the content and uses it to infinitesimally improve its ability to guess the next word that fits into a reply to a prompt, without a series of next-words reproducing multiple sentences from the NY Mag article, then that should be perfectly fine.

    • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      I don’t agree. Purpose and use case should be a factor. For example, my friends take pictures of me and put them on social media to share memories. Those images have since been scraped by companies like Clearview AI providing reverse face search to governments and law enforcement. I did not consent to or agree to that use when my likeness was captured in a casual setting like a birthday party.