Navigating Legal Risks: What Comms Professionals Need To Know About Using ChatGPT and AI for Thought Leadership
As communication professionals, we’re constantly looking for ways to create impactful content for executives and organizations. The allure of artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) to craft quick, high-quality thought leadership is hard to ignore. From engineering to information technology (IT), consulting to healthcare, many industries are experimenting with AI to produce everything from blog posts to white papers and executive speeches.
However, while these tools promise efficiency, they come with significant legal risks that cannot be overlooked. As communication professionals start to rely on AI, they also need to build processes to safeguard their organization from reputational and legal pitfalls.
The Legal Landscape of AI-generated Content
AI tools, including ChatGPT, are incredibly powerful in generating text, but they don’t inherently understand the nuances of legal compliance, intellectual property or defamation laws. Many legal concerns stem from the fact that LLMs work by generating content based on vast amounts of training data, which may include copyrighted or proprietary material, biased information or even false data.
Communication professionals must be aware that using AI-generated content without proper review could expose organizations to a wide array of legal challenges. A recent case in the U.S. highlighted this risk when a lawsuit was filed against OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, for allegedly generating content that contained false, defamatory statements about an individual. In technical terms, the model was hallucinating. While this specific case deals with personal defamation, it opens the door to the broader legal ramifications that can occur when AI-generated content goes unchecked.
Intellectual Property (IP) Infringement
One of the biggest concerns when using AI to generate thought leadership is the potential for intellectual property infringement. Because LLMs like ChatGPT are trained on enormous datasets from the internet, the content they produce might unintentionally pull from copyrighted material, proprietary data or even competitor-owned IP.
For example, an AI tool might generate a white paper for a consulting firm that closely mirrors another firm's work without attribution, simply because it has been trained with similar language. The original author or company could claim IP infringement, exposing your organization to lawsuits, fines or damage to its reputation.
The legal ambiguity surrounding AI-generated content further complicates matters. Since AI tools generate original content that doesn't directly copy-paste from sources, proving infringement becomes a gray area. However, the risk is still present, and communication professionals must work with their legal departments to ensure proper review processes are in place before publishing any AI-assisted content.
Plagiarism and Lack of Accountability
Beyond legal IP claims, AI-generated content may also be flagged for plagiarism or duplication of previously published works. The issue here isn’t just potential lawsuits — it’s also a matter of credibility. If your thought leadership piece, generated through AI, includes portions of text lifted from other sources without attribution, it could lead to public embarrassment, loss of trust and significant reputational harm.
A key example of this risk occurs in an academic setting, where students using AI tools to generate papers have been caught submitting plagiarized content. While this instance happens in education, similar issues could just as easily arise in professional thought leadership. This is especially true in industries like consulting or IT, where proprietary frameworks and strategies are critical.
Since AI doesn't inherently know the rules of attribution, it's essential to run all AI-generated content through plagiarism checkers and perform human review to ensure originality and accuracy. Thought leadership should reflect the unique perspectives of your organization's leaders, not regurgitate material that could belong to someone else.
Data Privacy Violations
In sectors like IT, consulting and engineering, thought leadership often includes sensitive or proprietary information. When using AI to draft content, there's a risk that this information could be inadvertently exposed or improperly handled. LLMs work by using vast datasets and algorithms, but it’s crucial to understand that they may not be as adept at safeguarding proprietary information as humans are.
For example, in 2023, Samsung employees mistakenly shared a proprietary code while using ChatGPT for programming assistance. While this incident wasn’t directly related to thought leadership, it serves as a cautionary tale for any industry handling sensitive data. AI-generated content that accidentally reveals confidential company strategies, customer data or intellectual property could land the organization in legal trouble under data protection laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the U.S.
Communication professionals should emphasize to their leadership teams the importance of never inputting sensitive or proprietary information into AI tools. This is a key legal and reputational risk, especially when creating thought leadership that may inadvertently disclose confidential insights.
Defamation and Libel Concerns
Another potential legal minefield when using AI-generated content is the risk of defamation or libel. AI tools do not understand context or nuance, and they can generate statements that may be factually inaccurate, misleading or outright false. In a worst-case scenario, your AI-generated content could defame a person, company or entity, leading to costly legal battles.
For instance, if a chief executive offer’s thought leadership article generated through ChatGPT wrongly accuses a competitor of unethical practices or incorrectly cites a public figure, it could lead to a libel lawsuit. Communication professionals must review AI-generated content meticulously to ensure factual accuracy and avoid inflammatory language that could damage the organization’s reputation or expose it to legal liability.
In a notable example of AI's potential to generate factually incorrect content, an AI-generated legal brief submitted by a lawyer in New York in 2023 cited fictitious cases that didn’t exist. The lawyer had used ChatGPT to assist in creating the brief, assuming the information provided was accurate. The court later uncovered the fabricated references, resulting in severe professional consequences for the lawyer and highlighting the risks of relying too heavily on AI for content creation without proper human oversight. This incident serves as a stark reminder for communication professionals to thoroughly fact-check any AI-generated material before publishing, particularly in highly regulated industries where precision is critical.
Bias and Discrimination in AI-generated Content
Another nuanced legal risk involves bias in AI-generated content. LLMs like ChatGPT are trained on vast datasets, some of which may include biased or discriminatory language. When this bias seeps into thought leadership, it can not only tarnish your organization’s reputation but also lead to legal action under anti-discrimination laws.
For instance, a thought leadership piece generated for an engineering firm might unintentionally reflect outdated or biased views on gender roles in the workplace. Even though AI has generated the content, the organization is ultimately responsible for publishing it. In countries like the U.S., the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces strict guidelines against discriminatory practices. Publishing biased content could result in legal claims of discrimination or harassment.
Communication professionals must thoroughly vet AI-generated content for any signs of bias, ensuring that it aligns with their organization’s values of inclusivity and diversity.
What Can Comms Professionals Do To Mitigate Legal Risks?
While AI offers exciting opportunities for content creation, communication professionals must guide their organizations in using these tools responsibly. Here are a few steps to consider:
- Establish Review Protocols: All AI-generated content should undergo rigorous human review for legal compliance, factual accuracy and originality before publication.
- Consult Legal Departments: Work closely with your legal team to develop guidelines around AI-generated content, especially in high-risk areas like IP, privacy and defamation.
- Educate Leaders: Help your organizational leaders understand the risks of using AI tools and why human oversight is still crucial in crafting authentic, legally compliant thought leadership.
- Run Ethical and Bias Checks: Ensure that any AI-generated content is free from bias and discrimination, aligning with your organization’s values and legal requirements.
By being proactive, communication professionals can help their organizations harness the power of AI without falling into the legal and ethical traps that come with it.