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Bob Lippman, who leads the Intellectual Property law department at Lemery Greisler LLC recently had a wonderful opportunity to lead a discussion at the Saratoga Book Festival, along with Mason Stokes, Professor of English and author of “All the Truth I Can Stand”, and Sarah Sweeney, Associate Professor of Art and Digital Media at Skidmore College, concerning legal and ethical issues surrounding the use of Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter referred to as “AI”) by authors, artists and other "creatives." A transcript of the discussion is linked, which grappled with a number of thorny issues, including:

1. What pressures do today’s creatives face?

• What are the risks to artists, and to society and culture, from the use of AI to create art and literature?

• Avoiding bad art, lazy art, hallucination, cultural stagnation.

2. Will AI-generated content devalue human-created art and literature?

• How would you define the “human touch” in art or literature?

• Will we reach a point where audiences will not be able to tell the difference between human generated art and AI-generated content?

• How can I maintain creative integrity in an AI world?

• How do we work to ensure that audiences will still value the human touch in storytelling and artistic expression?

• What strategies would you suggest for creatives to differentiate their content from AI and ensure originality?

• As an artist, how do I navigate the emotional impact of AI?

3. Can an artist ethically use AI in heir own creative process?

• How to use AI tools responsibly—without compromising authenticity, originality, or ethical standards.

• Avoiding infringement liability.

• Record-keeping and the need to save drafts/thumbnail sketches.

4. What new skills or tools should I learn to stay relevant?

• Should creators learn prompt engineering, data curation, or AI-assisted design tools to stay competitive?

5. How do I ensure transparency when AI is involved in my work?

• To what extent do creators need to disclose the use of AI in their process?

• How much AI involvement is too much before a work is no longer considered “human-made”?

6. How can I protect my intellectual property from AI-generated imitations?

• Copyright registrations, and the limitations of what can and can’t be protected.

• Is AI capable of transformative use - can AI add meaning or expression, when it lacks intent, or creative discretion?

• Do you recommend that visual artists use programs like GLAZE or NIGHTSHADE?

• Practical suggestions on how artists can realistically monitor the use of their work. Resources/advocacy organizations.

7. What rights do I have over my work when it's used to train AI models?

• Was my work used? Was it used legally? Do I have any recourse?

• Lessons from the ANTROPIC lawsuit

• Discuss conflicting legal landscape: whether and to what extent is AI’s use of copyrighted training material fair use?

8. What do you think the future will look like?

• Predictions for the future, and Q&A session.

For a full transcript, click here.

·         Albany County Bar Association

·         Amsterdam Rotary Club

·         Caddy Shack Classic, Inc.

·         Catholic Charities of Schoharie County

·         Community Loan Fund

·         Disabled American Veterans

·         Dutchess County Agriculture

·         Fast Break Fund

·         Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York

·         Leukemia and Lymphoma Association

·         Make a Wish NENY

·         NYSSCPA

·         Pine Plains Lyons Club

·         Polsinello Foundation

·         Prospect Foundation

·         Old Rhinebeck

·         Radial Arts

·         Regional Food Bank of New York

·         St. Catherine’s Center for Children

·         SEDC

·         Saratoga Arts Festival

·         Saratoga Hospital Foundation Lion’s Club

·         Saratoga Performing Arts

·         Saratoga Preservation Foundation

·         Saratoga Regional YMCA

·         Saratoga Sponsor a Scholarship

·         Senior Citizens Center of Saratoga

·         Shelters of Saratoga, Inc.

·         The Cathedral of All Saints

·         The Community Hospice Foundation

·         The Foundation of St. Mary

·         The Wesley Foundation

·         Things of My Very Own

·         Wildwood Foundation