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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks that artificial intelligence poses to independent media, and how AI affects the operation of independent media sites.

Journalism plays an invaluable role in the fabric of our society and we are committed to supporting a free, sustainable and plural media landscape. In this context, we recognise concerns from the press sector, including independent media, that recent developments in generative AI pose risks, as well as opportunities, to journalism.

We are engaging with the press sector on these concerns. The Media Minister and the Technology Secretary each held roundtables earlier this year with publishers and broadcasters to discuss AI and journalism. We have also provided funding to the Bridging Responsible AI Divides research programme at The University of Edinburgh, which produced the report ‘Generative AI and Journalism: Mapping the Risk Landscape’.

We recognise that particular concerns have been raised with regard to the use of copyrighted news content in the training of AI models and how this interacts with UK copyright law. We want to support rightsholders in licensing their work in the digital age while allowing AI developers to benefit from access to creative material in the UK, including that from independent media. The government is analysing responses to the consultation and looking at all options. We will set out a detailed economic impact assessment on all options and a report on the use of copyright material for AI training, transparency and technical standards. This analysis will inform our position, alongside a series of expert working groups to bring together people from both the AI and creative sectors.