In the run-up to the UK government’s landmark AI Safety Summit, a united front has emerged among the leading figures of the publishing world. The Society of Authors, Publishers Association, Association of Authors’ Agents, and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) have penned an open letter to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, expressing their concerns over the unrestricted use of copyrighted content by AI systems.
The plea for ethical AI
In their plea, they explicitly called for “urgent confirmation ‘that AI systems cannot continue to use copyright-protected works with impunity'”. Furthermore, they seek “acknowledgement of and recompense for the copyright infringement that has already happened” and emphasise the need for “transparency and attribution”.
Read: Authors’ pirated books used to train Generative AI
On the ALCS website, it stated, “We recognise the immense challenges that AI poses to the creative industries, and that is why we are actively campaigning to protect human authors. Earlier this year, we published our Authors and AI Principles, which outlines a set of principles that must be considered when developing policy in this area.”
Balancing innovation with integrity
The industry’s joint statement highlights the significant contribution of human creativity to both AI safety and the wider creative industries. They reminded the Prime Minister of the estimated £116 billion value that such creativity will bring to the UK this year alone.
“Human creativity is the bedrock of the publishing and wider creative industries. That creativity will be worth around £116 billion this year in the UK alone.”
The collective voice from the creative world commended the Prime Minister’s initiative in convening the inaugural AI Safety Summit. They noted that the UK’s position as a pioneer in AI development, while beneficial, comes with ethical and legal responsibilities. They said, “The publishing industry was an early adopter of AI and we fully recognise the potential benefits […] However, it must be used ethically and legally, and its use must be regulated.”
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Drawing attention to the Books3 database – a collection alleged to have been utilised in developing numerous renowned systems without permission – they urged for measures that revolve around consent, fair payment, and accreditation for creators.
Closing their appeal, they underscored the urgency of the situation: “We can only ensure that with strong Government support […] This is an issue on which the entire publishing industry is united. It is vital that authors and rightsholders are protected by Government as AI continues to be developed. We urge the Prime Minister to make a statement of commitment to protecting the value of human creativity, intellectual property, and publishing and the creative industries, while these new technologies evolve.”
“Creative work – and industries like publishing that are built on it – can only thrive under the right conditions: a strong copyright regime, compensation, credit for authors and other creators, and rightsholders’ control. But those conditions are being undermined – and creative works devalued – by today’s unfettered, opaque development of AI systems.”
Read: Unauthorised AI training: 183,000 books incite legal clashes
Hence, it remains to be seen how the UK government will address these pressing concerns from the heart of its creative industries.
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