Navigating the terms and conditions of generative AI

(note: last updated 06 August 2024 – see here for the update history.)

The discussion around the use of generative AI tools in education is ongoing. With more institutions looking to implement these tools in classrooms and lecture theatres we wanted to investigate their user agreements. We have focused on two key questions to answer for now – whether the tool has an age requirement and whether the provider of the tool collects user inputs for training their models. We were keen to see what the current differences might be between a variety of generative AI tools and so looked at a selection of text, image and audio services. Of course, this technology is constantly evolving and changing so it’s worth noting that the information in this blog is correct at the time of our investigation.

We have looked primarily at tools which can be accessed free of charge as our focus is on those which are the most accessible to students. Many of these services do offer paid subscriptions and licenses which may have different terms to their free versions, and we may explore these in a later post.

The table below shows a selection of generative AI tools and their terms regarding age restrictions and using user inputs for training. This is by no means a complete list, but it can help us explore the terms under which different providers are offering their services.

The information below is correct at the time of publishing:

These all refer to individual unpaid accounts. For products/providers that offer educational licensing we aim to add soon. In the mean time if you have an educational license please refer to the Ts&C’s for that product. 

 

Generative AI Tool/Provider	What is the age requirement?	Can user inputs be used to train AI models?	Training LLM Explanation
OpenAI Products – ChatGPT, DALL∙E	18 or 13 with parent/legal guardian’s permission	ChatGPT Yes – unless you opt-out	Users can opt out of training in ChatGPT settings.
Google Gemini	18	Yes	User inputs and outputs may be used to train models. Data where possible will be anonymised. Google have also reminded users not to include information that may identify the user.
Anthropic Claude	18	No – unless you opt-in	User inputs and outputs are not used to train the models. However, prompts and conversations may be used to train where explicit permission has been given. Such as by submitting feedback, ideas, or suggested improvements and they take reasonable efforts to de-identify user data.
Microsoft Copilot (Consumer versions)	Over 18 or younger with parent/legal guardian’s permission	Yes	User inputs and outputs may be used to train models. Microsoft have also reminded users not to include information that may identify the user or sensitive data.
Microsoft Copilot (Enterprise versions including Copilot with commercial data protection and Copilot for Microsoft 365)	18	No	User inputs have commercial data protection.
Quillbot	Over 16 or 13 with parent/legal guardian’s permission.	Yes	User inputs and outputs may be used to train models. Data where possible will be anonymised.
GrammarlyGo	13 in the USA with parent/guardian’s consent. 16 outside the USA.	Yes	User inputs and outputs may be used to train models.
Wordtune	18 or 13 with parent/guardian’s consent.	Yes	User inputs and outputs may be used to train models.
UpWord	18 or 13 with parent/guardian’s consent.	No	User inputs and outputs are not used to train the models.
Scholarcy	13	No	User inputs and outputs are not used to train the models.
Midjourney	13	No	User inputs and outputs are not used to train the models.
Adobe Firefly – e.g. generative fill feature	18	No	User inputs and outputs are not used to train the models.
AIVA.ai	No age requirement	Yes	User inputs and outputs may be used to train models.
GitHub Copilot	13	No	User inputs and outputs are not used to train the models.
Poe	13	No – unless you opt-in	User inputs and outputs are not used to train the models.
Perplexity	18 or 13 with parent/guardian’s consent.	Yes – unless you opt-out	User inputs and outputs may be used to train models.

We have found that most of the services we looked at required users to be a minimum of 13 years old though several, including Anthrophic’s popular Claude chatbot, require users to be 18.  This may be an important point to consider when recommending use of these tools at FE institutions or for anyone with younger students. We only found one service with no age requirement at all, AIVA, a tool for generating soundtrack music.  As with many online tools there is often little or no requirement of users to actually verify their age or prove they have parental consent before gaining access to these tools. Student users therefore might easily be in breach of the age requirements, whether that is done accidentally or on purpose.

Providers too have quite different approaches to whether they use user submitted data for model training. Many providers we found were clear in their terms on whether they use inputted data for training but some offered less clarity or did not mention either way. In those cases we reached out directly to those providers and most returned a definitive answer. We are still awaiting clarification on some and will update this post when they respond.

Interestingly, of those that do use user data to train only a few stated that they anonymise that data where possible and these still advise users to refrain from inputting personal information into their systems in the first place.

Overall, this investigation has demonstrated the wide variety in the terms and conditions around the generative AI tools available. As many users, both staff and students, will be engaging with AI tools independently of their institution and outside of a typical institutional/enterprise license agreement it is important to encourage all users to be aware of how data they input into these services might be used and to exercise caution.

Change log

06 August 2024

ChatGPT and DALL-E: Users can now generate images in ChatGPT. Both ChatGPT and DALL-E users can opt out of having their prompts used for model training in the ChatGPT settings tab.

Microsoft Copilot: Enterprise versions, including Copilot with commercial data protection and Copilot for Microsoft 365, added to the table, including age requirements and information on whether user prompts are used for training..

Quillbot: Users 16 or under 18 with parental/guardian consent can now use the service. Previously, it was restricted to 18 or under 18 with consent.

Midjourney: Clarification that Midjourney does not use individual user prompts to train its AI models.

Poe: Added to the table, including age requirements and information on whether user prompts are used for training.

Perplexity: Added to the table, including age requirements and information on whether user prompts are used for training.

 

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