We identify several important and unsettled legal questions with profound ethical and societal implications arising from generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), focusing on its distinguishable characteristics from traditional software and earlier AI models. Our key contribution is formally identifying the issues that are unique to GenAI so scholars, practitioners, and others can conduct more useful investigations and discussions. While established legal frameworks, many originating from the pre-digital era, are currently employed in GenAI litigation, we question their adequacy. We argue that GenAI's unique attributes, including its general-purpose nature, reliance on massive datasets, and potential for both pervasive societal benefits and harms, necessitate a re-evaluation of existing legal paradigms. We explore potential areas for legal and regulatory adaptation, highlighting key issues around copyright, privacy, torts, contract law, criminal law, property law, and the First Amendment. Through an exploration of these multifaceted legal challenges, we aim to stimulate discourse and policy considerations surrounding GenAI, emphasizing a proactive approach to legal and ethical frameworks. While we refrain from advocating specific legal changes, we underscore the need for policymakers to carefully consider the issues raised. We conclude by summarizing key questions across these areas of law in a helpful table for easy reference.

翻译：我们识别出生成式人工智能（GenAI）引发的若干重要且悬而未决的法律问题，这些问题具有深远的伦理与社会影响，并聚焦于其与传统软件及早期AI模型相区别的特征。我们的核心贡献在于正式界定了GenAI所特有的问题，以便学者、从业者及其他相关方能开展更具实效的探讨与研究。尽管当前GenAI诉讼中仍沿用着许多源自前数字时代的既有法律框架，我们质疑其适用性。我们认为，GenAI的独特属性——包括其通用性、对海量数据集的依赖、以及兼具广泛社会效益与危害的潜力——亟需对现有法律范式进行重新评估。我们探讨了法律与监管体系可能调整的领域，重点剖析了围绕著作权、隐私权、侵权法、合同法、刑法、财产法及第一修正案的核心议题。通过对这些多维度法律挑战的梳理，我们旨在推动关于GenAI的学术讨论与政策思考，强调建立前瞻性法律与伦理框架的必要性。虽然我们未主张具体的法律修订方案，但着重指出政策制定者必须审慎考量本文提出的问题。最后，我们通过便于查阅的表格总结了各法律领域的关键问题。