The UK is facing "two terrible tragedies" in the AI age, Baroness warns
"The government may be on a path to squandering Britain's opportunity to be a global leader."
The government has hit Britain with a double whammy which will see AI take a huge bite out of the creative sector whilst the benefits of this technology are accrued in other countries.
That's the warning from a Baroness who has successfully derailed the government's plans to allow artificial intelligence companies to use copyrighted works without asking permission.
Baroness Kidron, a cross-bench peer, tabled an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill which would require AI firms to disclose which material was used in the training of their models.
It passed in the House of Lords by 272 votes to 125, and will now return to the House of Commons, where ministers will decide whether to accept the amendment, revise it, or reject it entirely - setting the scene for another showdown with peers.
Baroness Kidron warned that tech firms were "seeking to entrench their existing information monopolies" and "are not stealing nameless data."
She said: "They are stealing some of the UK’s most valuable cultural and economic assets—Harry Potter, the entire back catalogue of every music publisher in the UK, the voice of Hugh Grant, the design of an iconic handbag and the IP of our universities, great museums and library collections.
"Even the news is stolen in real time, all without payment, with economic benefits being taken offshore."
The Great British AI copyright heist
The Baroness said the great AI copyright heist was part of a pair of disasters impacting both the creative ecosystem - one of Britain's most important industries - and the wider AI sector.
She added: "There are two terrible tragedies unfolding: first, the Government are undermining one of our greatest industrial sectors; secondly, they may be on a path to squandering for all time the UK’s opportunity to take its rightful place in the new world of AI as a global leader in the AI supply chain.
"Generative AI depends on three things: skill, energy for compute and high-quality data. We punch above our weight on skills, but are no match for the US and China.
"Without lowering our energy costs fivefold, the natural choice will be for AI firms to train elsewhere. However, the UK has a disproportionate amount of quality data, a huge proportion of which is the intellectual property owned by our powerhouse creative industries.
"It costs UK corporations and individuals their hard-earned wealth and the Treasury much-needed revenue. It also denudes the opportunities of the next generation because, whether you are a corporation or an individual, if work is stolen at every turn, you cannot survive."
The government’s proposal would allow AI companies to train their models on copyright-protected material without seeking permission, unless rights holders explicitly opt out.
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