Why the British government is so into AI
Interesting BlueSky thread on the topic —
The UK Government believes several things:
1) The AI genie is out of the bottle and cannot be put back in
2) Embracing AI would definitely be good for the British economy
3) Enforcing copyright on AI training would put Britain out of step with rest of the world and subsequently…
4) Enforcing copyright would be ineffective as AI would just be trained elsewhere, cutting out Brit creatives entirely
5) Govt’s preferred option is permissive enough to be attractive to AI firms but demands transparency so at least rights holders have some recourse; the alternative is bleaker.
Obviously, I contest all of these beliefs to one degree or another, but this is where the govt is, and it’s useful to understand that. The real crux of the debate, as they see it, is how Britain’s laws can practically deal with the global inevitability of AI. They believe it’s untenable to make Britain a legislative pariah state for AI, and that this would not lead to good outcomes for British creatives anyway. This is a point worth considering when replying to the consultation.
However, the govt says it’s not going to implement policy before it has a technical solution for rights holders to opt-out and chase down infringements. My view is that this is difficult to the point of being pure fantasy, and either means that the govt is not serious about finding a real, effective technical solution, or this policy will be kicked indefinitely down the road. My dinner partner was optimistic a solution could be achieved within the timespan of a year or two. I just don’t buy it.
Government says it has not sided with AI firms over creative industries. However, its understanding of “not taking a side” creates a false equality between massive companies whose business relies on crime and individuals whose livelihoods will be destroyed.
I got the sense that there is no political will whatsoever to seriously challenge firms who offer to spend big in Britain, and that any thought of holding them to account for actual crime is simply considered naive. But we do have a bit of time while govt attempts to confect their magical, easy to use, opt-out solution—time during which one or several of these AI firms might implode, making the true cost more apparent.
Tags: uk government ai policy copyright ip britain economy future