Before I move on to more serious matters, is it not appalling that politicians are spending a lot of time arguing about who started the war in Ukraine? There are many sides to that argument. Actions by Ukraine, Russia and surrounding countries including the USA all contributed to pushing Russia into invading. Shots were fired well before it turned into a clear invasion. There does seem to be a willingness to try to reach a peace agreement and that needs to be urged on all parties.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence. That is the title of a public consultation published by the Government in December which is about to close.
Copyright has historically been designed to protect and financially support the authors of literary works. But the scene is being clouded by use of AI Models trained on existing material available on the internet and used to create new “works of art”. Cribbing material from other authors is nothing new. William Shakespeare copied some of the plots of his plays from other literary works. But it’s getting more and more difficult to identify the creators of new material where AI software is being invoked.
As the foreword to the latest consultation says: “At present, the application of UK copyright law to the training of AI models is disputed. Rights holders are finding it difficult to control the use of their works in training AI models and seek to be remunerated for its use. AI developers are similarly finding it difficult to navigate copyright law in the UK, and this legal uncertainty is undermining investment in and adoption of AI technology. This status quo cannot continue. It risks limiting investment, innovation, and growth in the AI sector, and in the wider economy. It effectively prevents creative industries from exercising their rights”.
If you are the author of published books or other written material, as I am, this should concern you. I have submitted a brief response to the consultation which closes on Tuesday (the 25th Feb). But this is a very complex subject and I think it needs extensive thought and discussion before any proposals to change UK law are firmed up.
The consultation is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/copyright-and-artificial-intelligence/copyright-and-artificial-intelligence . If you have an interest in this area, please respond.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson )
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