Experts issue warning to creators as window closes for AI content copyright claims: 'They may end up with nothing'

Creative industry professionals are warning that the few opportunities to be compensated for training artificial intelligence models are drying up, according to Forbes.

What's happening?

An initial blitz of training large language models used by giants like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft relied on the use of scraped internet content. 

Though data wasn't often used with the creator's permission, there have been a few attempts to legitimize the practice with compensation. This compensation has come from lawsuits and new data verification services. 

However, AI is increasingly being trained on AI-generated data. Gartner estimated that this synthetic data is poised to be 75% of what's training AI in 2026 and 100% by 2030. 

Why is AI important?

First and foremost, AI poses a threat to a wide range of labor markets. Cheaper, tireless AI tools are highly attractive to business owners, even if the quality of AI output is still in question. It remains to be seen whether synthetic data will improve or diminish the quality of that work.

Worse still, AI training uses a lot of power. Dirty energy sources like coal and gas used to power data centers create an environmental cost to AI use. These energy sources generate pollution, which traps heat in the atmosphere and exacerbates destructive weather patterns, which in turn incur property costs across sectors. Tech giants are leaning heavily on nuclear power to keep AI humming along while keeping energy pollution low. 

There's also a hardware impact involved. The demand for computer memory has caused a massive spike in prices, and should an AI bubble burst, data centers could become stranded assets and e-waste bombs. As it stands, regular data center upgrades will lead to lots of used hardware with no home.  

What's being done about AI training?

Some professionals are suggesting that creatives get paid whatever they can now, before AI training becomes entirely fed by synthetic data. 

"A lot of artists have their heads in the sand with respect to AI," said musician BT at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, per Forbes. "The fact is, if they don't come to some kind of agreement, they may end up with nothing."

Which is your biggest concern regarding AI technology? Energy consumption ⚡ Job displacement 🤖 Data privacy and security risks ⚠️ Humans losing control of it 😱 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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