There is a lot being written about artificial intelligence (AI). There are also many different ways of defining the term AI including for legal purposes. This post will examine some of the leading legally defined uses of the terms AI and generative artificial intelligence.
Legal definitions of Artificial Intelligence
The leading definition of artificial intelligence is the recent updated definition of artificial intelligence from the OECD:
An AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.
The OECD definition will likely be incorporated as the legal definition of AI in Canada’s Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) and the European Union draft European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA).
In this regard, the Industry and Innovation Canada Minister stated in a letter to the INDU Committee that the Government would be supportive of an amendment that aligns with the OECD definition of AI (which at the time read):
a technological system that, using a model, makes inferences in order to generate output, including predictions, recommendations or decisions.
The EU AIA defined the term artificial intelligence system or AI system as meaning:
software that is developed with one or more of the techniques and approaches listed in Annex I and can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, generate outputs such as content, predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing the environments they interact with;
Other legal definitions of the term artificial intelligence can be found in the United States White House Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence which defined the term AI stating:
The term “artificial intelligence” or “AI” has the meaning set forth in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3): a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence systems use machine- and human-based inputs to perceive real and virtual environments; abstract such perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner; and use model inference to formulate options for information or action.
The term artificial intelligence system in the United States proposed Artificial Intelligence Research, Innovation, and Accountability Act of 2023 was legally defined in this statement:
Means an engineered system that: (a) generates outputs, such as content, predictions, recommendations, or decisions for a given set of objectives; and (b) is designed to operate with varying levels of adaptability and autonomy using machine and human-based inputs.
The draft United Kingdom Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill [HL], defined the term artificial intelligence for the legal purposes as follows:
Means technology enabling the programming or training of a device or software to: (a) perceive environmentals through the use of data; (b) interpret data using automated processing designed to approximate cognitive abilities; and (c) make recommendations, predictions or decisions with a view to achieving a specific objective. AI includes generative AI, meaning deep or large language models able to generate text and other content based on the data on which they were trained.
NIST’s leading Risk Management Framework defines the term AI system:
“as an engineered or machine-based system that can, for a given set of objectives, generate outputs such as predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. AI systems are designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy (Adapted from: OECD Recommendation on AI:2019; ISO/IEC 22989:2022).
Legal definitions of Generative Artificial Intelligence
There are now also some legal definitions of the term generative AI.
The White House Executive Order defined generative AI as:
The term “generative AI” means the class of AI models that emulate the structure and characteristics of input data in order to generate derived synthetic content. This can include images, videos, audio, text, and other digital content.
The Artificial Intelligence Research, Innovation, and Accountability Act of 2023 defined the term generative AI as:
Means an artificial intelligence system that generates novel data or content in a written, audio, or visual format.
The City of Seattle in enacting a law to combat bias in generative AI systems, legally defined the term generative AI as:
Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) is a class of computer software and systems, or functionality within systems, that use large language models, algorithms, deep-learning, and machine learning models, and are capable of generating new content, including but not limited to text, images, video, and audio, based on patterns and structures of input data. These also include systems capable of ingesting input and translating that input into another form, such as text-to-code systems.
The United States Copyright Office has used the term generative AI system as:
One such recent development is the use of sophisticated artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies capable of producing expressive material. These technologies “train” on vast quantities of preexisting human authored works and use inferences from that training to generate new content. Some systems operate in response to a user’s textual instruction, called a “prompt.” The resulting output may be textual, visual, or audio, and is determined by the AI based on its design and the material it has been trained on.
The European Union defined the term generative AI in the draft European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) stating:
Providers of foundation models used in AI systems specifically intended to generate, with varying levels of autonomy, content such as complex text, images, audio, or video.
The UK draft Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill defined the term generative AI as:
Means deep or large language models able to generate text and other content based on the data on which they were trained.
AIDA does not include a definition of the term generative AI, but the proposed amendments to AIDA as a definition for the term “general purpose system” which is defined as:
an artificial intelligence system that is designed for use, or that is designed to be adapted for use, in many fields and for many purposes and activities, including fields, purposes and activities not contemplated during the system’s development.
For more AI and AI related definitions see my book,Computer, Internet and Electronic Commerce Terms: Judicial, Legislative and Technical Definitions, 2023 | Thomson Reuters.
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