Can the text produced by an AI be Copyrighted?

In other words, can I use text in this article that an AI has created without worrying about copyright infringement? I raised the question with my Editor in my previous column because he was worried that the first draft contained too much text in quotation marks and although copyright was not violated because I used quotes and supplied correct attribution to the author, according to the APA writing guidelines, quotes should comprise no more than 15% of a text because it is the author’s responsibility to deliver the message in their own words. 

Long story short, we reached a compromise because most of the quoted text was from a conversation between an AI the author of another article and the AI did most of the “talking” all the author did was guide the conversation by raising the right ‘questions’. So,  a simple Google search  on the query, “Can AI-generated text be copyrighted?”  provided this answer:

“In the U.S., the Copyright Office guidance states that works containing AI-generated content  are not copyrightable without evidence that a human author contributed creatively. New laws can help clarify the level of human contribution needed to protect works containing AI-generated content.Jun 5, 2024”

 This does not take into account the fact that all AIs have been trained by data scraped from the massive amount of copyrighted information already residing on the Internet.

Nor does it address the ambiguity of  the phrase “ works containing AI-generated content are not copyrightable without evidence that a human author contributed creatively.”   So before starting this article, I decided to ask the Microsoft CoPilot AI what it had to say about this issue and CoPilot responded,

“The copyright status of text produced by artificial intelligence (AI) depends on whether it meets the criteria for human authorship. Here’s what we know:

1. AI-Generated Text:

• When AI generates text autonomously, without direct human input or intervention, it is not protected by copyright.

• The technology itself determines the rhyming pattern, words, and structure of the text.

• Since it lacks human authorship, this material is not eligible for copyright protection.

2. Training AI Models:

• However, when training AI models, the use of copyrighted materials (such as training data) is considered fair game.

• The resulting output from AI models during training is not independently copyrightable.

3. Disclosure in Registration Applications:

• When applying for copyright registration, applicants must disclose whether AI-generated material is part of their work.

• The U.S. Copyright Office provides guidance on registering works containing AI-generated content1.

Remember that AI-generated content raises unique copyright questions, and public guidance is essential for navigating this evolving landscape. “

The list of Pros and Cons for humans using AI continues to grow ---all you have to do is Google it (or use Google's AI Prodigy or Microsoft’s Copilot or OpenAI’s ChatGPT or any of a growing list of freely available AI applications)

One thing is for sure: when  this article is published in the PR, it will have copyright protection and that there will always be a job for lawyers.