IRIS Special 2020-2: Artificial Intelligence in the Audiovisual Sector
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Artificial intelligence in the audiovisual sector IRIS Special IRIS Special 2020-2 Artificial intelligence in the audiovisual sector European Audiovisual Observatory, Strasbourg 2020 ISBN 978-92-871-8806-9 (print edition) Director of publication – Susanne Nikoltchev, Executive Director Editorial supervision – Maja Cappello, Head of Department for legal information Editorial team – Francisco Javier Cabrera Blázquez, Sophie Valais, Legal Analysts European Audiovisual Observatory Authors (in alphabetical order) Mira Burri, Sarah Eskens, Kelsey Farish, Giancarlo Frosio, Riccardo Guidotti, Atte Jääskeläinen, Andrea Pin, Justina Raižytė Translation France Courrèges, Julie Mamou, Marco Polo Sarl, Nathalie Sturlèse, Stefan Pooth, Erwin Rohwer, Sonja Schmidt, Ulrike Welsch Proofreading Anthony Mills, Catherine Koleda, Gianna Iacino Editorial assistant – Sabine Bouajaja Press and Public Relations – Alison Hindhaugh, [email protected] European Audiovisual Observatory Publisher European Audiovisual Observatory 76, allée de la Robertsau F-67000 Strasbourg, France Tél. : +33 (0)3 90 21 60 00 Fax : +33 (0)3 90 21 60 19 [email protected] www.obs.coe.int Cover layout – ALTRAN, France Please quote this publication as: Cappello M. (ed.), Artificial intelligence in the audiovisual sector, IRIS Special, European Audiovisual Observatory, Strasbourg, 2020 © European Audiovisual Observatory (Council of Europe), Strasbourg, December 2020 Opinions expressed in this publication are personal and do not necessarily represent the views of the European Audiovisual Observatory, its members or the Council of Europe Artificial intelligence in the audiovisual sector Mira Burri, Sarah Eskens, Kelsey Farish, Giancarlo Frosio, Riccardo Guidotti, Atte Jääskeläinen, Andrea Pin, Justina Raižytė Foreword According to Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, "we should be very careful about artificial intelligence," it may be "our biggest existential threat." Sounds scary, doesn’t it? And yet, everybody is talking about it, and more and more companies are using it. It is the future, or so they say. But what is AI? It is certainly not the dystopian vision served up by Hollywood in so many films, from 2001, Space Odyssey to Blade Runner or Terminator. Not yet, at least. I am afraid that the answer to the question “What is AI?” is much more prosaic than all that: in the end, AI is mostly computers being computers; software code gulping tons of data and using all this raw information according to predefined instructions. Of course, the potential is awe-inspiring. Medicine, economics, transportation, energy … you name it. The practical applications are seemingly limitless. However, as with any other technical development, it is not without risks. AI also has a dark side, of course, but probably not as dramatic as Elon Musk would have us believe. Not yet, at least. In the audiovisual industry, as in other sectors, the increasing use of artificial intelligence is likely to herald a paradigm shift, as it can transform the entire value chain: from content production, programming and advertising, to consumer expectations and behaviours due to the abundance of offers and devices and the personalisation of content. On the dark side, though, AI can contribute to the proliferation of “fake news”, and it raises issues regarding users’ right to information, media diversity and pluralism, and data protection, to name but a few. The European Audiovisual Observatory has decided to take a closer look at these effects by publishing this report, following a workshop we organised in December 2019, to discuss the opportunities and challenges raised by AI in the audiovisual sector, particularly in the journalistic field and in the film sector. More information about the interesting event, including a summary of the discussions and links to the participants’ presentations, is available here: https://www.obs.coe.int/en/web/observatoire/-/workshop-artificial-intelligence-in-the- audiovisual-industry- This report, conceived, shaped and coordinated by the European Audiovisual Observatory’s legal department during the difficult months of lockdown, explores different issues requiring analysis from a regulatory standpoint, and is divided into three parts. The first is devoted to general umbrella issues and opens with Chapter 1, written by IT specialist Riccardo Guidotti (University of Pisa), who explains what AI is and delves in particular into the AI black box problem, that is to say the lack of transparency in how AI systems operate and make decisions, as well as into how explainable AI could be made possible. Two overview chapters follow this technical introduction: in Chapter 2, Andrea Pin (University of Padua) offers an explanation of the regulatory problems thrown up by the collection and use of the stuff AI dreams are made of: Big Data. Chapter 3, written by Sarah Eskens (University of Amsterdam), provides an overview of issues relating to the impact of AI on freedom of expression and information, including the legal framework for AI use by the media and the effects on the freedom of expression rights of others. The second part of the publication presents specific fields of media law and policy where AI may have a profound impact in the future. First comes cultural diversity in the algorithmic age. Mira Burri (University of Lucerne) discusses in Chapter 4 how, from news personalisation to recommendation algorithms on video on demand services, AI appears to hold the key to our information needs and entertainment wishes, what effect this has, and whether there is a need for regulation. Other tricky legal questions are dealt with by Giancarlo Frosio (Center for International Intellectual Property Studies at the University of Strasbourg) in Chapter 5: if machines can “create” works, can they be copyright holders? Or can a person or company be the copyright holder of a work created by a machine? In Chapter 6, Justina Raižytė (European Advertising Standards Alliance) explains how AI offers a new world of possibilities for advertisers and, in theory, can be more convenient for the customer, but also raises important privacy issues. In Chapter 7, Kelsey Farish (law firm DAC Beachcroft LLP, London) takes us on a tour of personality rights issues - ghost acting, life and post-mortem personality rights, and infringement issues (notably deepfakes). In the third part of the publication, Atte Jääskeläinen (LUT University and London School of Economics and Political Sciences) presents in Chapter 8 what are, in his view, the main regulatory challenges raised by AI in the audiovisual sector, focusing on possible fields of regulation along with potential risks. The introductory texts and the concluding remarks, authored by Francisco Javier Cabrera Blázquez, senior legal analyst at the European Audiovisual Observatory, aim at putting all these diverse legal and policy issues in perspective To this brilliant set of authors go my warmest thanks for having made this report so rich. To our readers, I can just say: enjoy the read! Strasbourg, December 2020 Maja Cappello IRIS Coordinator Head of the Department for Legal Information European Audiovisual Observatory The Council of Europe is addressing AI in the Human Rights and other specific contexts. We invite you to visit https://www.coe.int/en/web/artificial-intelligence/home for more information about the work of the Council of Europe’s Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI). Table of contents 1. Artificial intelligence and explainability ............................................................... 3 1.1. What is artificial intelligence? ................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.1. A short history of artificial Intelligence ............................................................................................................ 4 1.1.2. Different approaches for artificial intelligence ............................................................................................. 7 1.1.3. Applications of artificial intelligence ................................................................................................................ 8 1.2. What is explainable artificial intelligence? ........................................................................................................................ 10 1.2.1. Motivations for XAI ............................................................................................................................................... 11 1.2.2. The dimensions of interpretability .................................................................................................................. 12 1.2.3. Different explanations and how to read them ............................................................................................ 16 1.3. AI and XAI in the media field .................................................................................................................................................. 21 1.3.1. AI applications and explainability ................................................................................................................... 22 1.3.2. VOD services in practice ...................................................................................................................................... 25 1.4. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................................................