Following the meetup dedicated to AI regulation in Ukraine
Yesterday, I attended an event organized by Juscutum Law Firm that was dedicated to the legal regulation of AI. I have rarely visited offline events for the last couple of years — first, due to the COVID restrictions, then the war started in Ukraine, and my schedule became even busier. But this time I found time to attend the meetup — the topic announced was exciting for me. Initially, the meetup was aimed at launching Juscutum’s new legal practice in the field of artificial intelligence. However, the discussions were broader than I expected and covered a lot of very interesting aspects of the business activities, state, and people related to AI.
Here, I will share a couple of the topics discussed that particularly caught my attention. This is just a part of what was presented by the speakers.
Ethics in AI. A topic not often discussed in technical communities but very important — AI, like any technology, offers extensive opportunities for misuse and unethical application. Human voice, gestures, and facial expressions can be used for far-from-ethical purposes. This requires special attention. The discussion of these issues made Anna Bulakh’s presentation memorable to me.
Will AI replace us? Here, I am sharing a personal formula I came up with not so long ago: to effectively and safely solve a problem using AI, you need the competence to solve the same problem without using AI. Otherwise, a person with insufficient competence will not be able to adequately assess the reliability and correctness of the solution provided by AI.
Data for training. The necessary foundation for AI development is the availability of quality training data sets that are also clean in terms of legislation and rights to use. Providing data for AI training will become a very profitable business for many companies. It is also possible that non-profit foundations will be created to actively develop and fill open data sets.
Copyrights. Many people already actively use AI-based tools in creative activities, and their use will become even broader over time. Diana Khrushcheva from the Ministry of Digital Transformation mentioned a notable and quite famous case for now. It is about Kristina Kashtanova, who tried to register copyright on the comic book, the illustrations created with AI’s help. The end of this story is as follows: “The US Copyright Office published a statement on the protection of copyright for works created with the aid of artificial intelligence (AI). Previously, the comic author Kristina Kashtanova claimed that she was the first person who have been granted copyright for such a work. The Office revised its decision later. Now only the parts of the comic book created directly by Kashtanova — the text and other elements; however, images generated by the program Midjourney will not be protected, as they are not creations of a human.”
Regulation of AI and responsibility. This was the central theme of the meetup. The approach to AI regulation in Ukraine and the world is only being shaped. As I understood from Diana Khrushcheva, the Ministry of Digital Transformation has decided to take time with norms and laws, waiting to form standards in Europe. This will allow the development of legislation in Ukraine that will harmonize with European standards. Anna Bulakh highlighted that there are still no straightforward legal ways to protect people from AI’s unethical use, such as using their voice or photo. Therefore, the responsibility issues for AI actions remain open and require further discussion and evolution.
What else would I like to say following the meetup? First, I wish the Juscutum Law Firm and its leaders — Artem Afyan and Irina Belyaeva — success in their new initiative. Second, I would suggest Juscutum to share their AI cases when possible. It would be very relevant for many people starting active work in this market.
PS Yes, this text is partially written with the help of AI. How else could it be? 😉
