After whitepaper launch, ASCI and Khaitan probe the legal labyrinth of AI in the ad world

Last week, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), alongside Khaitan & Co, a full-service law firm, released a comprehensive whitepaper on the role of generative AI, highlighting the safe practices and legal considerations around the topic.

The two entities have now concluded a webinar to further decipher and explain the legal intricacies of AI. In the panel discussion, industry experts explored the legal challenges posed by the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the advertising domain. The discussion shed light on the complex intersection of AI, creativity, copyright, and data privacy.

The panel constituted of Manisha Kapoor, who is the CEO and secretary general at ASCI; Asavari Moon, global marketing leader, Google London; Tanu Banerjee, partner at Khaitan & Co; Supratim Chakraborty, Partner at Khaitan & Co; Amit Bhasin, chief legal officer and group general counsel at Marico; and Ankit Bose, head of AI – NASSCOM.

Tanu Banerjee, Partner at Khaitan & Co, introduced the concept of generative AI, which generates diverse outputs based on user inputs and training data. She explained its potential to automate content creation in advertising, from sales materials to digital art. Banerjee highlighted the need to address legal concerns associated with copyright ownership of AI-generated content.

"The ownership of AI-generated content is a legal grey area," Banerjee pointed out. The question of who owns the rights to content created by AI remains ambiguous. Additionally, she discussed the challenge of AI tools being trained on data from various sources, potentially leading to copyright infringement and unauthorized data use.

Manisha Kapoor further delved into the legal intricacies surrounding AI in advertising. Kapoor highlighted concerns about biases embedded in AI models due to historical data. She underlined the importance of addressing biases to ensure fair and inclusive AI-generated content.

Kapoor also discussed the blurred lines of authorship and ownership in open AI tools. She said, "The ambiguity arises when multiple users modify prompts, raising questions about the original creator and rightful owner of the content."

She emphasized the need for clarity in legal frameworks to navigate these complexities.

The imminent data protection legislation in India was a key focus. Supratim Chakraborty discussed the newly introduced Digital Personal Data Protection Bill's provision that exempts personal data made publicly available by individuals from its scope. This provision aims to balance data privacy concerns with content shared voluntarily by users.

Chakraborty elucidated, "Data privacy issues in AI advertising encompass data usage, unauthorized sharing of personal data, and privacy violations." He highlighted the case of Italy's ban on ChatGPT due to privacy violations, showcasing the importance of adhering to data protection laws.

Chakraborty outlined challenges related to data usage, sharing of third-party personal data, and the implications of India's upcoming data protection law. He discussed the obligations of significant data fiduciaries, including the requirement for a resident data protection officer, independent data audits, and impact assessments.

Speaking on the use cases of AI, Asavari Moon of Google pointed out that AI has been around for a while now, and the new developments have now solidified AI’s efficiency in the marketing world.

She said, “We’ve used AI in the past such as product recommendations on e-commerce and even OTT platforms, with the help of predictive analysis. With generative AI, there are three segments where we can see a major impact. These are audience targeting, content creation, and customer experience.”

Amit Bhasin of Marico spoke about the key developments in AI deployment in marketing. He laid out the impact of AI in providing a more personalised marketing approach for brands, while also enabling a more consumer-centric engagement between brands and marketers.

“It is very important to understand consumer behaviour, and AI can help develop a more targeted marketing endeavour. Consumers wish to have personalised product exposure, and with AI you can reach out to a specified group of consumer. The discussion has only just started, and we’ll see more use cases as move forward.”

Ankit Bose pointed out that the generative AI has seen a lot of reception from larger enterprises and smaller startups. “There are two categories of companies who are deploying AI. One is the category of enterprises that are adopting AI more experimentally. The other category consists of companies who are more forthcoming, who are are adopting AI with a safety net and certain guidelines to go by.”

The panel discussion essentially highlighted the need for comprehensive legal frameworks to navigate AI's impact on advertising. The experts underscored the importance of addressing copyright ownership, biases, and data privacy concerns to ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI in shaping the future of advertising, while also speculating about the possible use cases and potentialities of the new tech in the marketing world.