Unveiling the Hidden Risks: Intellectual Property & Data Privacy in AI
This Nature Careers Guide Faculty feature discusses the challenges and concerns around using artificial intelligence (AI) in research, particularly in academia. Timothée Poisot, a computational ecologist, is concerned that AI, especially chatbots like ChatGPT, could affect the integrity of scientific work, as these tools often do not cite original sources. This raises issues about how AI-produced content could impact crucial policy decisions, such as those at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16).
Generative AI (genAI) tools can assist researchers by performing tasks like literature searches and writing papers. However, because these tools rely on vast data scraped from the internet, often without transparency, they create issues around ownership, plagiarism, and privacy. Many AI systems are controlled by private companies, and the internal workings are not fully disclosed, making it difficult for researchers to trace the origins of the information.
Furthermore, some publishers are partnering with AI firms, raising concerns about attribution and intellectual property rights. As AI becomes more integrated into research processes, new regulations, like the EU’s AI Act, are being implemented to ensure more transparency and protection. However, the law may have limited effect on academic research.
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