When you’re consulting for clients, you, your employees, or your subcontractors may want to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to perform.
Yet you should disclose this in your consulting contracts, define the scope in which AI tools will be used, and ideally limit your liability if there’s an intellectual property (IP) infringement or other risk that arises because of AI use.
The IP issue comes in two main flavors:
(1) Distribution of your client’s proprietary and confidential information by inputting it into an AI tool; and
(2) Generating content using AI tools that infringe upon a third-party’s copyright or trademark.
Content generated might be derived from intellectual property owned by third parties but was illegally incorporated into AI tool’s data. This can lead to you creating something that appears unique but turns out to be a legal nightmare when your client discovers they paid for an illegal derivative work of someone else’s property.
So, you need to decide if the risks are outweighed by the rewards of using AI tools in your consulting gigs, how you can limit the risks if you want to use the tools, and then figure out how you’re going to get your client and workers onboard with this limited use.
When you input data into an AI tool, you should assume based on current licensing standards that the owner of the tool will incorporate information into its data sets for refining and improving the application. Unfortunately, this means the data can and will be distributed to others who use the tool (your competitors, your client’s competition, etc.).
Now if you need help doing this with your consulting agreements, employment contracts, or subcontractor agreements, it’s probably time to schedule a phone consultation to discuss these business agreements with Tech Business Lawyer Mike Young.
