CRA Chair, Deborah Annett’s Keynote Speech at Westminster eForum's conference on 'Next steps for AI development in the UK’

On Tuesday 22nd April, CRA Chair gave a Keynote Speech calling on Government and Tech to ensure creators’ rights are respected:

“AI could improve public service, whether in healthcare, education, or climate research.  But generative AI is different. These systems produce creator outputs, such as songs, images and stories, that closely imitate human work, and they do so by stealing vast amounts of existing works without permission or compensation. 

We don’t need weaker laws. What we need is for copyright to be respected, enforced and upheld in the face of generative AI. 

We call on the Government to reject Option 3.  Even the tech companies are saying they do not want it. What they really want is the end of Copyright. 

The creative industries need the support of this Government. It is a large and vital part of our industrial base and worth £125bn per annum. But it also brings joy to all of us. Do we really want to lose our favourite bands, our musicians, our authors and our poets, our photographers and our visual artists?

Because this is where we are currently heading. “