The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

I recently attended a webinar through the San Diego Professional Editors Network entitled “AI and the Future of Editing.” Artificial intelligence is certainly a hot topic lately, and it will surely be something editors have to contend with moving forward. But the question I keep asking myself is, “Is it ethical to use AI in any capacity in its current iteration?”

One of the panelists at the webinar stated that it is okay for authors to use AI, as long as 80% of any given work is in their own words and no more than 20% of a piece is generated by AI. While I understand where this speaker was coming from, I couldn’t disagree more. In my opinion (and I know not everyone feels this way), using AI in any capacity in its current iteration is ethically wrong because it “learns” from creators’ works without their express permission. To me, that is nothing less than plagiarism.

Now, another panelist suggested that AI is a good tool to use, say for research, but that authors should refrain from publishing anything that was generated by AI. Again, I disagree with this sentiment. Using a tool that essentially plagiarizes is still unethical, even if the user is not directly publishing whatever the AI generates.

So, to what extent do I think we should use AI? Honestly, until there are more concrete laws that dictate what AI companies are allowed to access in order for the AI to “learn,” I don’t think we should be using it at all. I’ve seen many people use AI to generate images or stories, and it is fun and entertaining, but at the end of the day, the AI used a human being’s work without their permission to generate that entertainment.

Do I think AI has a future in the publishing industry? Certainly! Artificial intelligence has the ability to learn from various sources, and when creators give their permission for AI to use their work to learn, then it is a great tool that has the potential to drastically change writing and publishing (although, I would still argue that it is missing a human element).

Do I judge those who use AI? Of course not! Choosing whether to use AI is something each individual must decide for themselves, but next time you start to put a prompt into an AI generating website, I want you to think of how you would feel if that technology were using your work to generate “art.”