The Albanese Government is facing mounting pressure to confirm how it plans to regulate fast-growing artificial intelligence technology, with the Coalition critical of mixed messaging from Labor ministers about whether new laws are needed. Source: The Guardian.
As debate erupts over big tech companies seeking access to Australian material, including journalism and books to train AI models, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stressed the importance of protecting copyright.
But the shadow productivity minister, Andrew Bragg, has urged Australia not to squander its opportunity to harness AI’s benefits, warning against any major new rules.
“The risk is that we over-regulate. The risk is that we make ourselves even more uncompetitive,” Mr Bragg said.
A suggestion from the Productivity Commission to give big tech companies an exemption to copyright laws for “text and data mining”, or to expand existing fair dealing rules, prompted fierce pushback from arts, creative and media companies this week, alarmed that Australian work could be used by massively wealthy tech companies – without compensation – to train AI models.
Federal ministers, including the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, have said they have no plans to change copyright law, and spoken in favour of creatives and rights holders.
Mr Albanese yesterday echoed concerns over protecting copyright, but also said the Government was keen to reap the benefits of AI technology, including productivity gains, expected to be a focus of the upcoming economic reform roundtable.
“My government’s a government that supports the arts,” Mr Albanese said at a press conference in Melbourne, calling AI a “complex” issue.
“We as a society will work [the balance of AI risks and opportunities] through. It’s good there’s debate about it, but copyright and intellectual property is important.”
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Labor under pressure on plans to regulate AI as Coalition accuses government of mixed messages (By Josh Butler and Tom McIlroy, The Guardian)
