Two days after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) was able to secure protections against the use of artificial intelligence in scripting film and television content, the Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) made its own stand against the technology.
In a statement released on Friday, the guild noted that if unregulated, the growing use of AI by corporate content producers represented “a clear and present danger to Australian writing, and consequently a significant dilution of the critical functions we perform”.
It followed the conclusion of the US Writers’ Strike after 148 days, with the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reaching an agreement that prevents AI from writing or rewriting literary material and from being used as source material.
The issue of copyright was also highlighted last week when the works of Australian authors were found on a dataset of pirated ebooks, known as Books3, used to train generative AI.
The AWG, which stood in solidarity with the WGA during the dispute, is now seeking the “implementation of unambiguous guidelines” across the country’s creative sectors to establish safe and appropriate AI usage. These guidelines ensure creative products do not harm or exploit consumers, facilitate and assist creative workers, and allow artists to derive a fair income for creative works and have copyright protections.
The guild goes on to acknowledge while there are “many useful and important purposes” to which AI more generally is currently being applied, such as in improving health and/or social services outcomes, creativity and art were “fundamentally and exclusively human endeavours”.
It considers the dangers of unregulated AI the “degradation and loss of Australian culture in general in its primary and most accessible forums”, along with the “appropriation and erosion” of Australian Indigenous culture, and a “devastating” erosion of the skill base of Australian creatives.
AWG executive director Claire Pullen said the guild’s directive to “affirm and defend the right of every Australian writer to have their work fairly remunerated and protected through copyright” was at the core of the statement.
“AI is derivative by nature,” she said.
“Its decision mimicry comes from ‘scraping’ works of Australian authors and creatives, most often without their consent, acknowledgement, or payment to the original artists.
“We need unambiguous guidelines and strong legislation to protect our arts workers and to ensure Australia has a creative and cultural future. AI has a place in our industries, but it is not in replacing the creative heart of every story. We know good writing is human writing and that the art and craft at the core of writing results from human endeavour, experience, and aspiration. That cannot be derived or replicated, and we have to ask – why would you try?”
Read the full AWG statement here.