School of Public Policy

Should the Government Limit the Use of Existing Works of Art by AI Algorithms?

New works of art are being generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms. These algorithms “learn” what humans find appealing by training themselves on datasets consisting of existing artistic works and then recombine these elements to produce new works. Burnett and Taplin (2023) argue that these algo- rithms work “by stealing music, books, photographs, paintings and videos off the internet under the guise of copyright ‘fair use’” and that “new laws and reg- ulations governing AI and safeguarding the human core of creative artistry” “may be needed.” Should the government create new laws and regulations to limit the use of existing works of art by AI algorithms?

GUEST JUDGE: Mark Long, Ph.D. (Dean, UCR School of Public Policy)

STUDENT DEBATERS: Cooper Proulx (Mechanical Engineering) and Rachel Strausman (Public Policy)