Thomas Rabe, the CEO of media group Bertelsmann, has spoken out about his enthusiasm for the AI technology ChatGPT. In an interview with the Financial Times, Rabe explained how the technology made his work easier and better. However, using existing artworks to produce new content using AI could violate copyright laws, which is new territory for the creative industry. Rabe believes that AI technology can be used for good, as long as we stay up to date and understand its potential and the dangers. He is committed to an understanding of the technology throughout the group.
At Bertelsmann, there are already several projects in which software selects background music for TV trailers or produces subtitles. Rabe believes that the spread of AI-generated books and online articles can only increase the value of established sources. He is referring to several aspects of the AI hype of the past few weeks in relation to the newspaper. Amazon and literary magazines are already being flooded with AI texts, and in Germany there have been at least two cases in which magazines have printed content generated by an AI.
Rabe is not really concerned about copyright issues, but he believes that using AI technology for the production of new content could result in copyright violations. However, authors could train ChatGPT and Co. with their own works and then have something new produced. Concerns about copyright protection are among the most important questions about AI.
For Rabe, the potential of the technology outweighs any concerns about copyright. He even asked ChatGPT what consequences AI would have for the publishing industry, and was impressed by the response. The answer was “a phenomenal text”: “It was quite detailed and got everything to the point.” It will certainly be interesting to see how the creative industries adapt to the opportunities and challenges posed by AI technology.
