ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has slowly crept up on us over the years, and it is very much in view today. While it’s great to have the World Wide Web, personal computers, video games, and Chat bots, for example, as with many ideas and inventions, AI can be used either to do good or to do harm. Let me tell you about my experience with AI’s dark side.

Several years ago, two of the copyrighted books I have authored were listed for sale on Amazon’s website where visitors can read the first thirty or so pages to preview the books pursuant to perhaps buying a copy. One day, while browsing on Amazon, I scrolled down from my eBook to discover that a book with a similar title and content had been listed for sale there. Curious, I purchased and downloaded a copy and found it to be closely modeled after my own eBook! It was rated 5-Star, but, when I clicked to read the reviews, there were none. I took note of the author’s name and checked the National Copyright Office records. Neither that book nor its author, were listed there. When I couldn’t find a way to report this on the Amazon site, I consulted an attorney, but his fee was too high.

So I abandoned my efforts---UNTIL my neighbor convinced me otherwise. He said that Amazon is a reputable company and would not want to be selling such a book. He urged me to file a complaint with our Secretary of State, so I did! I filled out their form online, included my evidence, and pressed “Submit.” Quick and easy! Well, it wasn’t long before that copycat book had disappeared from the Amazon website!

Thus, the point of my story is this: we must be alert and on guard to prevent someone from using AI to harm us in some way.