Unleashing the Potential: Australia's AI Inquiry Uncovers Opportunities and Challenges for the Creative SectorThe Australian Senate is currently conducting an inquiry into the opportunities and impact of AI technologies on the nation. The inquiry, established on March 26, 2024, has heard from a diverse range of stakeholders, including organizations in the creative sector. With the final hearing taking place on July 17, 2024, the committee is set to report its findings to Parliament on or before September 19, 2024.

Navigating the AI Landscape: Insights from the Creative Sector

Safeguarding Intellectual Property and Artistic Integrity

The creative sector has voiced a clear and unified message: the urgent need for federal and state laws to define the compliance framework for AI data sets in relation to the copyright of artists whose works have been copied or scraped. Submissions emphasize that permission must be sought and obtained before the use of a creative's work, including for the purpose of "training" AI systems. The call for government-mandated transparency when AI is used has also been a consistent theme across the submissions.The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Office (NATISMO), an Indigenous-led initiative of APRA AMCOS, has expressed deep concerns about the impact of AI on this particularly vulnerable sector. NATISMO warns that the "hijacking of traditional music forms by generative AI replicas" can have devastating consequences, tearing the "entire fabric" of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural creation. The organization emphasizes the right of ATSI people to decide how their cultural content is used and to protect their cultural heritage.

Addressing the Imbalance: Creators Seek Fair Compensation

The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has been vocal in its stance, stating that "creators are not anti-tech" but rather seeking fairness. The organization argues that authors and illustrators have been "locked out of the financial benefits of the AI boom," with tech companies building "a new parasitic technology, generating their own wealth on the basis of work they have not paid for." The ASA calls for the government to mandate transparency, ensuring that creators have the right to grant or decline permission for the use of their work in AI training.The Australian Production Design Guild (APDG) has also raised concerns about appropriate credit, chain of title, and payment for designers when their work is used within an AI dataset. The organization also highlighted the need for designers to be appropriately indemnified for the use of AI-created designs.

Bridging the AI Literacy Gap

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has expressed concerns about the potential for AI to deepen existing literacy gaps. The organization cites a report indicating a 27 percentage point knowledge gap between older (50+) and younger Australians when asked about their understanding of AI technologies. ALIA has recommended that funds be committed to the library sector to upskill in AI, enabling them to support the public in developing AI skills across all regions of Australia.

Mitigating the Risks of AI-Generated Content

The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) has raised concerns about the potential for AI-generated content to dislocate and devalue the work of artists, creators, and journalists. The organization has called for laws that require the public disclosure of data used to train AI and the adoption of an "AI Tax" on businesses that replace human workers with AI tools.The Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) has expressed concerns about the unauthorized copying, unpaid uses of copyright, and multiple breaches of exclusive rights of copyright owners. The AGSC warns of the risk of "destroying a whole industry of creatives" and the potential for a "homogenisation of material, in favour of cheap, generic material and a marked contraction in quality."

Balancing Innovation and Ethical Considerations

The Australia New Zealand Screen Association (ANZSA) has acknowledged the potential benefits of AI in the screen industry, but has cautioned against an over-broad application of labeling requirements for AI outputs. The organization advocates for a risk-based approach, only prescribing labeling for use cases that are high-risk and have the potential to deceive or harm.The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has advocated for the licensing of content AI ingestion, believing this will protect and boost the creative industries. The APA has also warned that a more robust copyright system is needed to operate ethically and legally, as Australia currently lags behind EU and US legislation in this area.

Empowering Smaller Creators and Mitigating Disruption

Screen Producers Australia (SPA), representing a membership of around 800 and driving a billion independent sector, has expressed concerns about the potential for smaller Australian production companies to be disadvantaged by the use of AI. The organization fears that only larger companies with considerable resources will be able to access and utilize these systems, leading to smaller companies, particularly in the animation industry, losing work to broadcasters or larger internationally supported companies.The National Association for Visual Arts (NAVA) and the Arts Law Centre of Australia have conducted a comprehensive survey of AI with their members, revealing that nearly 40% acknowledged incorporating generative AI into their creative process. NAVA supports a similar approach to the UK, including statutory compliance of cross-sector AI-specific principles, greater transparency, and a toolkit to assist organizations in assessing the risks to individual rights and freedoms caused by their AI models and platforms.The Arts Law submission also raised a concern for the environmental impact of AI data mining, which seems to have been overlooked by most submissions to the inquiry, but is a real and significant impact of this new technology.As the Senate inquiry continues to gather insights and recommendations, the creative sector in Australia has made it clear that the responsible and ethical development of AI technologies is crucial to safeguarding the integrity, livelihoods, and future of the nation's vibrant creative landscape.