Artificial Intelligence: Creative Industries

Culture, Media and Sport – in the House of Commons at on 15 June 2023.

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Photo of Pete Wishart Pete Wishart Chair, Scottish Affairs Committee, Chair, Scottish Affairs Committee

What discussions she has had with representatives of the creative industries on the impact of artificial intelligence on that sector.

Photo of Lucy Frazer Lucy Frazer The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

AI has enormous potential to deliver better public services, and high-quality jobs and opportunities, but it is really important that, while we recognise its benefits, we also manage the risks. There are particular risks to our creative industries, as in the domain of copyright. I recently met my colleague from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Viscount Camrose, and the intellectual property Office on this very issue. I have also met stakeholders across the media and creative industries, including UK Music, Universal, the Alliance for Intellectual Property, the British Phonographic Industry and the News Media Association, among others.

Photo of Pete Wishart Pete Wishart Chair, Scottish Affairs Committee, Chair, Scottish Affairs Committee

All these engagements are always important and valuable, and I thank the Secretary of State for that. She will know that the creative sector is always at the forefront of technical innovation, but it has always somehow managed to lose out, and the potential for this happening with AI is profound. AI firms are already saying that they do not need permission or licences from rights holders to ingest their content, so can I ask her a very direct question: does she believe that the ingestion of content without permission is copyright infringement and is therefore illegal?

Photo of Lucy Frazer Lucy Frazer The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The hon. Member is absolutely right to recognise how the creative industries are at the forefront of some of our industries, and I hope he welcomes the sector vision that we announced yesterday, with an additional £77 million to support them to continue to grow. As he will know, the IPO is talking to industry and to AI firms. I know that the first working group meetings were held last week and that it is considering this very issue.

Intellectual Property

patents (for inventions), trade marks, protected designs, and copyrights; see http://www.patent.gov.uk

Secretary of State

Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.