How to get into trouble with AI
I tend not to use AI for my research or writing, not only because I can get into bother with it if I let my guard down but, I was brought up in a time that was pre-computers and most definitely pre-AI. Yes, like most people in 2025, I have learnt to adapt to robots taking over the asylum. But AI is not the be all and end all of everyday life. For those people relying heavily on AI nowadays, it's a sad situation, as yes AI may make menial tasks a lot easier to accomplish but it also makes people a lot lazier overall.
Imagine a student, for instance, needing to get their assignment paper in to the tutor in the morning; this is the night before and the student still hasn't written a thing. "I know," they say, "I'll get ChatGPT to do it!" Job done, sorted and gripped. But, is it? We still don't know where the chatbots get their information from. It could most definitely be plagiarised from someone else's work and everyone must always retain that doubt in their mind. And the 'poor old student' is left licking their wounds after being found out and maybe facing a summons to appear at court on a plagiarism charge. And that can and does happen.
There are such things as trademarks, copyrights and intellectual property rights as well as plagiarism protection. Ignore them at your peril. It is not just writings and scribblings that can be subject to such rights. Images downloaded from the internet are also subject to those rights, unless they fall into the category of being in the public domain and, I wouldn't like to be in anyone's shoes if they download that innocent-looking puppy or kitten photo from Google to print it onto hundreds of t-shirts to sell on Facebook only to find out later that you've half-inched it from Getty Images. Oh boy, what a court case that will ensure when they find out what you've done!
Plagiarism, by the way, is when someone presents another person’s words or ideas as their own without giving appropriate credit. It’s a bit like borrowing a friend’s car to impress someone special and pretending you bought it yourself—easy to do, but unfair and damaging to your credibility. If you absolutely must take a few words, sentences or paragraphs (but not the whole book!) from someone elses's work, make sure you cross reference it with an attribution and an acknowledgement to the actual owner of the work you are using. It'll ensure you get out of a jam and it's easy enough to assert.
But, are there ways around breaking such rights, so that everyone goes home happy? Of course there are! And, ironically, it can lay within AI itself! Does that sound contradictory or even self-defeating? Well, yes and no. What I have just said here doesn't mean that you have to use AI, only that you could use it. Yet, there are other ways, although I must admit that I don't often use them but they are there in case I do need to call upon them.
Just to tidy up my comment in the above paragraph about AI. There is nothing wrong with asking the likes of ChatGPT for ideas on what to write about, or even to seek advice on the best free public domain websites to obtain your images or previously-written articles that you can glean information from. Just don't ask AI to write a full article on any particular topic and then copy it verbatim.
There is nothing against the law to use articles or images that are in the public domain (PD, for short). What is the PD? The public domain is made up of creative works—like books, music, art, images and films—that aren’t owned by anyone and can be freely used by the public. A work usually enters the public domain because its copyright has expired, the creator has chosen to give up their rights, or it was never eligible for copyright in the first place. Once something is in the public domain, anyone can copy it, adapt it, share it, or build on it without asking permission or paying royalties. This makes the public domain an incredibly valuable cultural resource, because it allows knowledge and creativity to be passed on and reimagined for future generations.
For example, classic stories like Sherlock Holmes or Beethoven’s symphonies are free for anyone to enjoy, perform, or remix into something new. However, it’s important to double-check the status of a work before using it, since copyright rules and timelines can vary across countries.
Are you even more confused?! Basically, unless they are cynically protected behind a paywall on a stock image website (which, ethically, they shouldn't be), public domain works are free and easy enough to use by anyone and everyone, provided that due diligence is performed by the intended user on the status of such works. An easy and straightforward adage to use here is "if in doubt, DON'T!". In other words, if you are unsure of the origin of something you wish to use in your own work, don't even contemplate using it. The financial risk involved is not worth it, especially if Getty Images decide to sue you for every penny (and more) that you have for using one of their images without payment, permission and attribution.
Articles can be rewritten and, in fact, there is even software available to help you to do so. And I don't mean AI. If rewriter software is used, it is totally possible to completely rewrite something in your own way. I have tried such software, many moons ago, and it can work but it is more laborious than just sitting down, doing a bit of your own research and then typing away on your computer or laptop keyboard. Yes, with pre-written work that you subsequently rewrite in your own way, the research has already been done but to actually do the research yourself is so much more fun and you'll learn a lot more from it and appreciate what you have achieved.
And, should you choose to write your own work — and I advocate that every new writer should at least try to do so — but you think you might be borderline on a phrase or a sentence, you can always run your article through some anti-plagiarism software. There's two types of such software, online and downloadable. There's plenty of them to choose from on the internet, some better than others, just search Google for 'plagiarism checkers'. Personally, I have the downloadable type, which means I can check my work instantly by opening the programme on my computer. But don't, don't, DON'T ever be tempted to use AI to do the checking for you! Doing that may very well end in tears.
Trevor Mulligan