Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Department is taking to ensure that freelancers and small creative businesses can access practical guidance on the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence.

DCMS is working with Sally Davies, AI Champion of the Creative Industries, and others to consider how best to support AI adoption. Sally has been engaging closely with the sector to inform her AI Adoption Plan for the Creative Industries, which was published in June.

Sally’s recommendations are not formally part of government policy, however we will carefully consider next steps in order to allow our creative industries to best seize the opportunities for innovation and growth presented by AI. This includes recommendations to raise the practical AI knowledge and confidence and develop trusted guidance, standards and tools for AI adoption.

We aim to help creative businesses, especially SMEs and the self-employed, build the skills and confidence to use AI safely and effectively. The government joins the AI Champion in supporting an augmentation-first approach to AI Adoption in the creative industries. AI should support human creativity, not displace it.

We are committed to working with Sally and the sector to increase accessibility to industry-backed knowledge, infrastructure and support, so as to empower creatives to make an informed decision on whether they’ll use AI or not.