In late March the Senate resolved to establish the Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) to inquire into and report on the opportunities and impacts for Australia arising out of the uptake of AI technologies in Australia. No discussion or issues paper was released, but a Terms of Reference for the Committee were published. The ADA responded broadly to the Terms of Reference in our submission.
We used the submission to draw to the Committee’s attention the nexus point that sits between innovation and copyright policy. Uncertaintly around the use of copyright-protected material as training data for AI remains a barrier for AI development in Australia. While Australia’s regulatory response must balance encouraging AI development and uptake against the importance of protecting copyright and ensuring incentives for creativity are maintained. In responding to the concerns of creators, Australia must be mindful of the limitations of direct licensing and collective licensing schemes and potentially look outside of the copyright system for other options for remunerating creators. Such an approach could see remuneration go back to creators whose material was or is used in AI training data while leaving room in the copyright system for the introduction of a flexible and technology-neutral copyright exception to support AI development and ensure Australian AI developers can compete on a level playing field with developers in countries with more favorable copyright regimes. In the submission we also flag that there is significant potential for AI to enhance Australia’s economy, the community and the individual lives of Australian’s but there is also considerable potential for harm in these same technologies.
Submissions to the Committee were due by Friday 10 May. The committee intends to report to the Parliament on or before Thursday 19 September 2024.