With AI, Tread Carefully to Avoid Intellectual Property Traps

November 05, 2025

So about this AI thing ...

At CRELIX we're beginning to discover the power of ChatGPT and Perplexity. It can be useful to ask these services questions and brainstorm with them. But there are reasons to be wary, especially when it comes to written content and pictures.

Just as students shouldn’t be using AI to write term papers, business people shouldn’t be using AI to write creative content. If you do, there’s a good chance you’re stealing someone else’s copywritten or trademarked work. Even ChatGPT acknowledges in their user agreement that they assimilate protected content. If you use it in business, you may be infringing on someone else’s intellectual property in a way that’s actionable by the content’s owner. In other words, you could be liable.

The same holds true with images. A picture you ask AI to create may be similar enough to a protected work that you’d be infringing someone’s intellectual property rights by using it for commercial purposes.

So have fun but tread carefully here, and holler if you ever want to discuss how to leverage AI for marketing and communications without running afoul of intellectual property protections.

-The CRELIX Team