How is the Rise of AI Impacting Intellectual Property Management?

Technology is no stranger to pushing against Intellectual Property – whether that be photocopying books, recording the radio, burning DVDs, or downloading music. And Generative AI, is no different. As consumers gain the ability to access content without having to visit a web page, bypassing ads and paid subscription models, the control over content ownership and audience insights becomes increasingly challenging.

This has created an ongoing conflict between intellectual property (IP) and modern technology. As such, publishers are being forced to reconsider their current business strategies.

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But, it’s not the first time this challenge has arisen. How many people will remember Napster when it first emerged? When Shawn Fanning, a 19-year-old American college student, developed Napster as a platform for sharing music for free, he likely never expected it to become the world’s largest community for sharing music files. It was disruptive, and consumers loved it.

Music labels on the other hand, did not. Labels wanted to sell their CDs for $10-20, and Napster provided a cheaper alternative. Perhaps unsurprisingly, by 2000, the business was wrapped up in lawsuits from record labels and musicians who argued that the service facilitated copyright infringement. However, Napster wasn’t the only one out there to challenge IP. There have also been furores over people taping TV and radio, and now we have sports streaming and software hacks.

Despite its legal troubles and eventual shutdown, Napster’s influence persisted, paving the way for modern streaming services like Netflix and Spotify.

The conflicts associated with Napster’s presence arose from market beliefs that consumers wanted high quality music legally, but they were wrong. The truth is, most people seek out convenience in their personal lives and at work; Market Intelligence Teams are no exception.

This convenience is what technology can provide, which is what triggered the battle with IP in the first place.

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Quick access to current and accurate information is what market intelligence wants and needs, yet is becoming more and more challenging as the datasphere doubles in size every 18 months. And now, Generative AI is changing the landscape again.

For example, why would someone choose to read the New York Times when ChatGPT can read it for you? In fact, AMPLYFI’s research found that nearly a quarter of knowledge workers (23%) use AI chatbots to source information needed for their jobs.

Answer engines therefore pose a huge threat to the big players in publishing. The New York Times has already sued OpenAI and Microsoft over the use of its content to train Generative AI and Large-Language Model systems.

With their business models being challenged, publishers have turned to action, with many now training their own AIs, or building one with others, in an effort to maintain control of their intellectual property. For example, the Financial Times has announced a new generative AI chatbot called ‘Ask FT’, trained using its own articles. OpenAI and Axel Springer have also partnered up to strengthen independent journalism in the age of AI.

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Given people’s propensity to seek out the easiest and most convenient approach to research, AI-powered answer engines are only going to grow in popularity, so the battle between tech and IP continues.

Finding a middle ground

 Convenience in technology generally wins. Gen AI and answer engines are therefore not going to go away, even if it hurts some larger players in publishing. Over three quarters (78%) of decision makers believe that further investments in making information more accessible and easily consumable could yield additional benefits to organisations. People will always want to find the easiest route, which means data-sourcing tools need to consider IP moving forwards.

On top of this, AI is powering an explosion of content that will continue at pace; knowledge workers are already overwhelmed by the quantity of information, with 41% reporting to have at least 6-10 browser tabs open at any o*******, and the average worker spending 7.7 hours searching through content every week.

Publishers are moving to defend their existing business models, but this will not work in the long term – it really is just a holding action. Just as platforms like Spotify and Netflix have done for entertainment, AI platforms will need to establish economic ecosystems where contributors along the value chain are compensated through transparent and evidence-based programmatic mechanisms. Underlying journalism and expert opinion are critical to decision-makers, making collaboration essential to building a sustainable and viable ecosystem.

It’s clear that managing AI-generated content will require advanced AI filtering to identify high-quality information whilst still respecting publishers’ intellectual property.

As publishers adapt to this new landscape, where they can leverage the power of AI in their platforms, we can anticipate increased collaboration and innovation. On the other hand, market intelligence teams will continue to prioritise decision-making based on valuable insights, and accessing them in the most effective and financially viable way.