ASA makes submission to inquiry on safe and responsible AI

Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has raised concerns of authors and illustrators on the risk posed by generative artificial intelligence (AI) in a submission to the government inquiry into safe and responsible AI.

‘AI is a complex and rapidly evolving topic which poses a range of issues, from copyright and consumer protection laws to privacy and data protection,’ said the ASA, which also acknowledged that AI offers ‘new opportunities and efficiencies’ alongside various concerns.

In its submission to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the ASA raised concerns about the risk of copyright infringement and the degradation of author rights, the risk to incentives to create, and the risk to integrity in publishing.

‘We consider the large-scale scraping and exploitation of works without regard to authors and illustrators rights to be outrageously unfair,’ said the ASA, adding that technology companies may be profiting from ‘intellectual and creative labour of creators without transparency’, because AI platforms are trained on datasets which use large amounts of books, journals, essays and articles from the internet without permission from, or compensation to, creators.

The ASA said it is ‘disturbed by the potential’ of AI to ‘produce and perpetuate inauthentic and fake art, appropriating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ art, stories and culture without reference to Traditional cultural protocols’. The submission also looks at the ‘bias and inaccuracies of AI-generated text, harmful particularly to women and people of colour.’

‘It is already so difficult to earn a living wage from writing or illustrating that even a small disruption from Generative AI—and even further market dilution in an already crowded market—may mean the loss of many professional writers and illustrators, a contraction of voices and unique Australian perspectives, and a diminished industry,’ the ASA said. ‘For a diverse publishing industry, we must safeguard the incentives to create.’

The ASA is asking the government to mandate transparency on both inputs and outputs, support opt-in licensing, maintain copyright, protect creator livelihoods, mandate human oversight, establish a special expert group, slow down to conduct safety checks, and work internationally.

The ASA is working on guidelines for authors, a model clause for publishing agreements specifically relating to AI, and an industry code of conduct.

The Australian Publishers Association has also stated it will make a submission to the government inquiry. Submissions have been extended until 4 August.

Read a more detailed summary of the ASA’s submission here.

Category: Local news