Creators need agency - CRA responds to AI Minister’s speech

19th Feburary 2026

The Minister for AI and Online Safety, Kanishka Narayan, delivered a speech at the Founders Forum, London AI Hub on 10th February. 

With a great sense of optimism and opportunity, the Minister outlined policies designed to support the UK’s tech revolution and ‘British agency’ in the age of AI. As we await the upcoming Government reports on AI, copyright and the creative industries, we are counting on the Government to show just as much commitment and support to UK creators. 

Referencing William Morris and the Great Exhibition of 1851 - the first wave of machine-driven mass-produced goods - the Minister posed a pertinent question: “In fear of AI’s jobs impact, can we enhance human labour or are we bystanders in its erosion?”

As UK creators experience displacement at a faster pace than the mine closures of the 1980s, it seems the latter is the more accurate. Just like then, there appears to be no Plan B. 

Illustrators, writers, voice actors, photographers, musicians and countless other skilled, qualified professionals are watching their work opportunities and livelihoods evaporate, as (mostly overseas) machines, which have been unlawfully trained on their work, replace them. 

So far, it seems the workers, whose creative property built the UK’s £124+ billion creative industries, are being abandoned.

The Minister’s speech ends with a promise - for “a government that knows the central question for us is one of culture: a culture of relentless agency, shared opportunity and extended human ability, so we meet Morris’ challenge and put machines in service, once again, of British agency.”

Creators need to retain agency. They need a government who will secure it for generations to come. Not just words but substantive policies and laws that support creators’ economic endeavours: mandatory transparency measures for AI developers, enforcement of UK copyright laws and remuneration through licensing. These measures are fundamental to British agency. 

As we await the Government reports on AI, copyright and the creative industries, we remain hopeful that Government will show its support of UK creators through clear and substantive policy and action.