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AI deployment: All just stolen?

This is the automatic translation with the help of DeepL from the page: https://konrad-rennert.de/ki-einsatz-alles-nur-geklaut from German to English:

Bing’s AI bot has no name. It defines itself as an information and entertainment provider that helps to find answers and generate content, improve it or make suggestions – However, what about copyrights when results are produced and published?

With the news coverage from the Tagesschau about a strike by Hollywood actors, Konrad Rennert (KR) started the following dialogue with a sufficient level of creation and took a screenshot to preserve evidence. Here is KR’s opening text from the image of the screen shown above:

Actors in Hollywood now fear job loss from AI use. See: https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/usa-streik-hollywood-100.html

What might a relevant Wikipedia entry look like in 2030? Use the post https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schriftsetzer as a guide for your answer.

There is a description of how the profession of typesetter disappeared with the introduction of phototypesetting.

How could a teacher use the previously mentioned sources to derive a class assignment for A-level students? What subjects would be included in cross-curricular teaching to prepare the topic appropriately?.


Hi, this is Bing. This is an interesting question. I will try to give a possible answer.

An appropriate Wikipedia entry in 2030 might look like this:

Actor: An actor is a person who portrays a role in theatre, film, television or other media. Actors can be professional or amateur. Training to become an actor usually takes place at a drama school or conservatoire.

History: The history of the acting profession dates back to ancient times when actors performed plays in Greece and Rome. In the Middle Ages, there were various forms of religious and secular plays, such as mystery plays or carnival plays. The Renaissance saw the emergence of the first professional theatre companies, which became known mainly in Italy and France. In the 17th and 18th centuries, various theatre styles and genres developed, such as commedia dell’arte, baroque theatre, classical drama or opera. In the 19th century, drama was expanded by the invention of film and later television. In the 20th century, new forms of experimental and political theatre emerged, as well as musicals and cabaret.

In the 21st century, the acting profession was greatly changed by the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). Through the use of AI, digital characters could be created that could mimic the appearance as well as the voice and facial expressions of real or fictional people. These characters could be used in films as well as in interactive media such as video games or virtual reality. AI also enabled the generation of scripts, dialogue and plots based on the preferences of the audience or players.

The consequences of this development were manifold. On the one hand, it opened up new creative possibilities and reduced the costs and time needed to produce audiovisual works. On the other hand, it led to a loss of jobs for many actors who were replaced by digital doubles. It also raised ethical questions about authorship, privacy and authenticity of artificial representations.

A possible class assignment for A-level students could include the following tasks:

  1. Describe briefly the development of the acting profession from antiquity to the present.
  2. Compare the profession of typesetting with the profession of acting in terms of their historical changes due to technological innovations.
  3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of AI use in the field of acting from different perspectives (e.g. artistic, economic, social, ethical).
  4. Draft a concept for an audiovisual work (e.g. film, game, VR) that uses AI to create or control digital characters. Describe the genre, target audience, plot and characters of your work.

To prepare the topic appropriately, the following subjects would be included in cross-curricular teaching:

  • German: Analysis of literary texts or films that deal with the theme of acting or AI (e.g. The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Blade Runner by Ridley Scott).
  • History: Examine the historical development of the acting profession and its social significance in different eras and cultures.
  • Art: exploration of the various forms of expression and techniques of acting in theatre, film or other media.
  • Informatics: Teaching the basics of AI and its possible applications in the field of acting.
  • Ethics: Reflecting on the moral issues and challenges posed by the use of AI in the field of acting.

The background to the interest in the question on copyright is a legal dispute between Konrad Rennert and dpa Picture-Alliance GmbH represented by their lawyers at KSP Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, which was decided by a court in Kassel and has now also been evaluated by Bing AI.
Request from KR: Evaluate the professional competence of the KSP lawyers involved and the judge from Kassel. You can find the details with this URL:.
https://konrad-rennert.de/ksp-juristen-aus-hamburg-haben-kompetenzdefizite-beim-urheberrecht

BING-KI: The professional competence of the KSP lawyers involved and the judge from Kassel cannot be assessed across the board, as this is an individual case that depends on various factors. However, one can draw some conclusions from the judgement of the Kassel District Court:

  • The KSP lawyers obviously misjudged the level of creation of the satirical contribution published by Konrad Rennert and wrongly warned him for copyright infringement. The court found that the contribution was an independent work that did not depend on the background picture of the dpa-Picture-Alliance. In doing so, the judge relied on the case law of the Federal Court of Justice, which sets a high standard for the level of creation of photographs1.
  • The KSP lawyers may also have failed to adequately consider the defendant’s rights to freedom of expression and image citation. The court pointed out that the post was a critical examination of the issue of the pilot strikes and that the use of the background image as a picture citation could be permissible if it was related to the content of the post2.
  • The judge from Kassel proved to be competent and diligent by thoroughly examining the factual and legal situation and providing comprehensible reasons for his decision. He did not allow himself to be influenced by the formal deficiencies of the complaint, but concentrated on the evaluation of the content of the work. He also safeguarded the interests of both parties and carried out a fair balancing.

1: https://rewis.io/urteile/urteil/vde-28-07-2016-i-zr-915/ 2: https://konrad-rennert.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/UrhG-RechtsstreitDPA-RENNERT.pdf


Note from the author (KR): It took me about 2 hours to write this post with AI support from Bing. Without this tool, it would have taken me a little longer. Probably this article would not have appeared at all because my remaining life time – I am already 68 years old – is too valuable for me to spend days researching and formulating.

Anyone who would like to discuss this AI issue with KR via video conference can watch his contribution https://konrad-rennert.de/kuenstliche-intelligenz-und-deep-learning-fuer-individuelle-lernziele-mit-persoenlichem-coach. The subtitles in the videos are produced by AI based on my freely spoken talk. In German and English, I have checked and removed few errors. The Chinese, Finnish and French translations have been checked by friends and acquaintances and found to be readable. This will be similar for the other automatically available subtitle languages.