An association run by Japanese mass media on Wednesday warned against recent developments in artificial intelligence, noting that it may lead to the unauthorized use of copyrighted work and hinder news organizations from producing quality content.
The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association in a written opinion piece called on the government to implement legal measures to counteract the potential negative effects of AI, and said "the public's right to know may be hampered" if the quality of news content falls.
Media organizations hold copyrights and other legal rights to its articles, photographs and videos, but concerns have been raised over the unauthorized use of the works, the association wrote.
The association is an independent organization funded and operated by daily newspapers, news agencies and broadcasters.
Japan amended its copyright law in 2018 to allow, in principle, AI to collect and utilize copyrighted works without permission. But the law did not anticipate the negative effects of advanced or generative AI, it added.
Furthermore, generative AI occasionally produced erroneous information, raising the risks of countless users believing what it says.
"The ability of AI to generate a large number of articles in a short time can be exploited to spread disinformation...to mislead public opinion," the association said.
Generative AI may also lead to the unauthorized collection of large amounts of personal data, such as a person's race, religion or medical history, and its potential misuse, the association said.
