George Freeman writes for The Times

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance at a breathtaking pace, its implications for the creative industries are increasingly apparent. While AI has the potential to enhance creativity and streamline production processes, the lack of sufficient legislative safeguards could cause significant harm to the very fabric of the UK’s hugely valuable creative industries.

In 2022, as the minister for AI in the then Department for Business and the Intellectual Property Office, I was lobbied by the AI industry and urged to wave through text and data mining freedoms for the sector. I refused.

I and my fellow minister for AI in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport felt that the AI industry wasn’t taking the concerns of our creative arts sector seriously enough. My message was that it needed to provide a set of self-regulatory protections, guarantees and fair reimbursement mechanisms to reassure the creative industries.

Britain is home to a vibrant creative economy, contributing over £130 billion annually to GDP, employing millions and delivering vast soft power. From music and film to literature and the visual arts, these industries thrive on originality and the unique perspectives of human creators.

However, as AI technologies become more integrated into the creative process, we need to protect against the potential for misuse, intellectual property infringement and the dilution of human creativity. Without a clear regulatory framework we risk creating a legal grey area that could undermine the rights of human creators and undermine the UK as a creative industry powerhouse.

Innovative regulatory leadership in new sectors such as AI has the potential to be a huge commercial opportunity for the UK. We are globally respected as a leader in setting standards, fair regulation and the settlement of disputes through our legal services sector. Being a global hub of AI regulation could be a bigger business than hosting AI companies themselves.

Ministers need to be clear-eyed in identifying the biggest long-term gains for UK plc. Giving AI companies carte blanche is the wrong approach. We should instead be leading the way in insisting on a framework for AI that is fair to our creative industries and embeds the UK as a hub in smart regulation and AI laws.

We do not have to choose between AI and the creative industries. We need both. And we can show the world how to do it. With smart, thoughtful and fair regulatory leadership from ministers, this is achievable, and would be a big win for the UK. It’s an opportunity to seize.