Artificial Intelligence, Deepfake and Digital Rights in 8 Questions — Atty. Gizem Gonce

Unreal images produced with artificial intelligence technologies can cause serious damage to people's reputation, private life, and personal rights. Especially showing a person in an environment where they are not in reality or presenting actions they never did as if they did them can create legal liability.

Depending on the characteristics of the concrete case, various crimes within the scope of violation of personal rights, privacy of private life, and criminal law can come into question. It is important for the victim to preserve the content, publication date, and sharing links. The use of artificial intelligence does not make unlawful behaviors lawful.

Creating unreal video and audio recordings by using a person's face or voice with deepfake technology can violate the person's honor and reputation, private life, and personal rights.

The victim can request the removal of the content, blocking of access, and material or moral compensation claims according to the nature of the event. In addition, initiating a criminal investigation is also possible depending on the conditions of the concrete case. Due to the rapid spread of digital content, it is of great importance to preserve evidence without delay.

A contract prepared by artificial intelligence is not considered invalid solely because it was generated by artificial intelligence. The validity of the contract depends on the intentions of the parties, their legal capacity, the subject matter of the contract, and the formal requirements sought by law.

However, texts created by artificial intelligence may contain erroneous provisions, incomplete regulations, or expressions based on legislation no longer in force. In particular, contracts involving real estate, companies, partnerships, and high economic value should not be signed without legal review. Technology cannot entirely replace legal counseling.

When fraud occurs through internet banking or digital payment systems, the liability of the bank must be evaluated according to the conditions of the concrete case.

Whether the bank fulfilled its security obligations, whether there were unusual transactions during the operation, the customer's authentication processes, and the degree of fault in the occurrence of the incident are important. It is not correct to say that the bank is automatically liable in every fraud incident. The transaction should be immediately reported to the bank, account activity and communication records should be preserved, and the necessary legal applications should be made.

Digital estate refers to the legal issues regarding digital accounts, content, and digital assets bearing economic value left behind by a person after death.

However, it is not possible to say that all social media accounts can be directly transferred to the heirs. Terms of use of platforms, protection of personal data, secrecy of communication, and economic values that can be included in the estate must be evaluated separately. Inheritance planning is gaining increasing importance, especially regarding digital wallets, online commercial accounts, and income-generating digital assets.

Publishing reviews that do not reflect the truth on e-commerce sites can mislead consumers' purchasing decisions. In particular, businesses generating fake reviews to show their own products better than they are or to denigrate competitors can bring up unfair commercial practice and unfair competition issues.

The principles of truthfulness, honesty, and not misleading the consumer are important in advertising and commercial practices. Creating or purchasing fake reviews can produce different legal consequences depending on the nature of the event. Businesses must use transparent and honest methods in their digital reputation efforts.

In advertisements and promotions made over social media, the consumer needs to be able to understand that they are facing commercial content. It is important that promotions made by an influencer in return for a fee, product, service, or other benefit clearly state their advertising nature.

The guideline on commercial advertisements and unfair commercial practices conducted through social media influencers published by the Ministry of Trade is one of the main regulations on this subject. Hiding the advertisement or presenting it as an organic user experience can mislead the consumer. Transparency in digital advertising is a legal responsibility.

The issue of copyright for works generated by artificial intelligence is one of the current discussion areas of intellectual property law. Within the scope of the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846, authorship is evaluated through intellectual products carrying the characteristics of their author.

It is not possible under our current legal system for artificial intelligence to be recognized as an author on its own. However, the nature of human creative contribution, the creation process of the work, and the license conditions of the artificial intelligence tool used are important. It is not correct to say that every artificial intelligence output is automatically under copyright protection.