Minister says AI ‘does lie' but defends Government amid copyright row
Minister says AI 'does lie' but defends Government amid copyright row
Peter Kyle acknowledged the technology was "not flawless" as he insisted the Government would "never sell downstream" the rights of artists in the UK
(Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images )
The Technology Secretary has said that AI "does lie" but defended his rejection of attempts to strengthen copyright protections amid concerns about tech firms using creatives' material to train their models.
Peter Kyle acknowledged the technology was "not flawless" as he insisted the Government would "never sell downstream" the rights of artists in the UK.
He also said he had "mistakenly" said his preferred option on AI and copyright was requiring rights-holders to "opt out" of their material being used by tech companies, and had since "gone back to the drawing board".
Ministers have faced a backlash from major figures in the creative industries over their approach to copyright, with Sir Elton John this week describing the situation as an "existential issue."
The Government is locked in a standoff with the House of Lords, which has demanded artists to be offered immediate copyright protection as an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill.
Peers have attempted to change the legislation by adding a commitment to introduce transparency requirements aimed at ensuring rights-holders are able to see when their work has been used and by whom.
Article continues below
Asked about the risk of AI producing unreliable information, Mr Kyle said "people need to understand that AI is not flawless, and that AI does lie because it's based on human characteristics".
"Now it is getting more precise as we move forward. It's getting more powerful as we move forward," he told Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.
"But as with every single technology that comes into society, you can only safely use it and wisely use it by understanding how it works."
He added: "We are going to legislate for AI going forward and we're going to balance it with the same legislation that we'll bring in to modernise the copyright legislation as well."
The Government has said it will address copyright issues as a whole after the more than 11,500 responses to its consultation on the impact of AI have been reviewed, rather than in what it has branded "piecemeal" legislation.
Among the proposals had been a suggestion that tech companies could be given free access to British music, films, books in order to train AI models without permission or payment, with artists required to "opt-out" if they do not want their work to be used.
Article continues below
Asked about the prospect of an opt-out clause, Mr Kyle told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: "I always had on the table from the outset an opt-out clause.
"But I mistakenly said this was my preferred option that had more prominence than perhaps some of the creatives wanted it to have, and I've now sort of gone back to the drawing board on that, because I am listening to what people want."
Last month hundreds of stars including Sir Elton, Sir Paul McCartney and Kate Bush signed a joint letter to Sir Keir Starmer urging the Prime Minister to introduce safeguards against work being plundered for free.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Barefoot Investor Scott Pape shares 'most controversial' warning ever
Barefoot Investor Scott Pape has shared a disturbing AI-generated message that he said might be 'the most controversial thing' he's ever published. 'Some will say what you're about to read is irresponsible - others will call it downright evil,' Pape warned his readers. Pape described how a friend working with the technology told him to ask ChatGPT: 'If you were the devil, how would you destroy the next generation?' 'So I did. And here is what the AI answered, word for word, with zero editing from me.' The AI laid out a 10-step plan for its method for the 'slow systematic erosion' of society with a warning about technology. 'If I were the devil, and my goal was to quietly but effectively destroy the next generation - not through shock and awe, but through slow, systemic erosion - here's how I'd do it,' it wrote. The first steps focused on social media, looking at highjacking attention on addictive devices and defining success as fame by elevating influencers. 'Hijack their attention: Create devices that feel essential, but are engineered to be addictive. Use infinite scroll, auto-play, dopamine loops, and FOMO. Make them believe that consuming is creating, and scrolling is learning. 'Example: A 14-year-old watches four hours of TikTok "productivity hacks" and does nothing all day. 'Redefine success as fame and external validation: Elevate influencers, not contributors. Teach them that a viral moment is more valuable than a decade of hard work. Make "likes" the new currency of self-worth. 'Example: Kids want to be YouTubers when they grow up - not because they love storytelling, but because they crave adoration. 'Attack the family structure: Undermine parental authority - promote the idea that parents are outdated or oppressive. Normalise absentee parenting through economic pressure and distraction. Erode the idea of family traditions, shared meals, and generational wisdom. 'Example: A child feels closer to a Twitch streamer than to their dad. 'Cut them off from nature: Replace tree climbing, swimming holes, and dirt-under-the-nails play with digital avatars and indoor screens. Frame outdoor play as "boring" or unsafe. Turn the natural world into something abstract and inaccessible. 'Example: A 10-year-old can't identify a magpie but knows every Pokémon. 'Confuse pleasure with purpose: Market hyper-palatable food, porn, and substances as "freedom". Create shame-free indulgence while ridiculing restraint, discipline, and tradition. Make pleasure the default pursuit, and discomfort the ultimate enemy. 'Example: A young man loses years to video games, vapes, and porn - not because he's evil, but because he's numb and alone. 'Replace meaning with mockery: Treat faith, commitment, and virtue as relics of the past. Replace sacred stories with algorithm-driven noise. Make them afraid to stand for anything that isn't trending. 'Example: A teenager is more afraid of being 'cringe' than being cruel. Kill community, quietly. 'Sell hyper-individualism: "you do you", "follow your truth", "cut off the haters". Remove rites of passage, civic duty, and face-to-face belonging. Make every connection transactional and every disagreement personal. 'Example: Loneliness becomes a silent epidemic - but everyone has 2,000 "friends". 'Enslave them with debt and distraction: Promote financial illiteracy: "Buy now, pay later" becomes a lifestyle. Blur the lines between wants and needs - encourage instant gratification over savings. Keep them working jobs they hate to buy things they don't need. 'Example: A 22-year-old racks up $30,000 in credit card and Afterpay debt to look successful on Instagram. 'Weaken them physically: Fill their diet with ultra-processed garbage and their lifestyle with inactivity. Make discipline in eating or training seem extreme or obsessive. Blur the connection between physical vitality and mental strength. 'Example: A child can't sit still in class, not because they're broken - but because they're inflamed, malnourished, and sleep-deprived. 'Make them spiritually hollow: Give them identity confusion, not exploration. Remove the idea of service, sacrifice, or something bigger than themselves. 'Make them feel like nothing matters - so they seek numbness, not growth. 'Example: A 16-year-old says "I don't care" about everything - because caring hurts and there's no compass.' Pape said it was the AI's final thought which stopped him dead in his tracks. 'If I were the devil, I wouldn't come with horns and pitchforks. I'd come with a sleek app, a soothing voice, a personal algorithm - and I'd whisper this is freedom.' Pape said the whole thing was 'pretty intense'. 'I do not believe that AI is some evil Frankenstein with a mind of its own, well, not yet anyway. 'What I do believe is that, when you strip away the Silicon Valley snake oil, AI is really just a pattern-spotting machine. 'It studies what we've done, over and over … and then makes predictions.
Edinburgh Reporter
31 minutes ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Demands for UK Government to do more for housing in Scotland
First Minister John Swinney has urged the UK Government to do more to support Scotland's housing sector in the upcoming Spending Review. The First Minister will set out his vision for the future of Scotland's housing sector in a speech at the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations in Glasgow later. Ahead of his speech the First Minister said: 'Scotland faces a housing crisis which is why we are investing £768 million in affordable housing in 2025-26, the majority of which will be for social rent. This includes up to £40 million for acquisitions, to help reduce the number of homeless households, especially with children, in temporary accommodation. 'We are keenly aware of the benefits of providing multi-year spending plans to our partners and want to prove this stability across the public sector. We continue to call on the UK Government to provide multi-year funding for housing to give developers and third sector organisations long-term certainty. 'The UK Government must also commit to unfreezing Local Housing Allowance rates. These rates set the amount that private renters receive to help with rent. Increasing these rates can be a key lever that can help protect tenants. Repegging these rates to the 30th percentile of local rents would mean greater security for many households across Scotland.' Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer met with First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney in July 2024 at Bute House. Photo courtesy of The Scottish Government Like this: Like Related
South Wales Guardian
31 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Geologists unveil UK ‘super regions' with best potential for transition projects
The findings, published by the British Geological Survey (BGS), show the UK has an incredibly diverse subsurface, which can play a key role in supporting efforts to reach the country's legally binding climate goals. Many areas have geology that is well suited to certain net zero technologies, including shallow geothermal installations or critical minerals occurrences. But BGS scientists say eight super regions contain subsurface formations and conditions that are favourable to multiple different technologies within a relatively small area. These are Northern Ireland, the Scottish Central Belt, north-east England, north-west England, the South Yorkshire and Humber region, the East Midlands and East Anglia, South Wales and south-west England. Here, the subsurfaces can provide a sustainable heat source for geothermal energy, geological formations for secure storage of energy and carbon dioxide (CO2), rocks containing important resources for mineral extraction, and suitable geological foundation conditions for onshore and offshore wind infrastructure projects, the scientists said. For example, south-west England has significant deep geothermal resources offering opportunities for sustainable heat and power generation while its sedimentary basins provide potential sites for CCS and energy storage, they added. Meanwhile, the Scottish Central Belt boasts a complex geology, including sedimentary reservoir rocks and significant igneous intrusions, abundant geothermal resources, abandoned coal mines and a legacy of subsurface data, they said. The BGS said its findings offer crucial insights and a road map for decision makers, ministers and land managers looking to maximise return on investment in the energy transition. The geologists assessed that strategic spatial planning for such technologies in these areas can help unlock an estimated £40 billion of annual investment and support the Government's target of creating 650,000 jobs through renewable energy by 2030. But they added that further investigation will be required to fully establish each of the super region's true potential, ensure safe deployment of each technology, and understand environmental impact. Michelle Bentham, BGS chief scientist for decarbonisation and resource management, said: 'The UK is incredibly diverse in its geology. 'Because it's out of sight, geology gets a little bit forgotten about. 'And I don't think people realise how blessed we are in the UK, if you like, in terms of the geology that could really help us have a sustainable future. 'But you can really see the difference that geology could make to reaching Government goals in terms of net zero, energy provision, clean energy.' Ms Bentham said funding and the policy landscape may have been barriers to rolling out technologies such as CCS and geothermal energy across the UK. 'In Europe, geothermal energy is used much more widely. In the UK, we don't use it as widely and it's always been a bit of a Cinderella of clean energy technologies,' she said. 'And in the North Sea, we could potentially become a hub for carbon storage in Europe for countries that don't have the right geology who are trying to decarbonise,' she added. The BGS contributed to the consultation on the Government's upcoming land use framework, which looks at how England's finite land can meet the escalating demands of food security, clean energy, nature restoration and new homes. But the framework is focusing more on surface demands, with some scope for shallow subsurface areas such as geothermal infrastructure. Ms Bentham said strategic spatial planning for the subsurface could also help optimise the UK's resources for the energy transition. For example, it could stop decision makers from locking into one technology – such as wind farms or CCS – in one area where another could have yielded more benefits, or where multiple technologies could have been deployed. 'Like the map, it's not one technology that's going to be the answer,' she said. 'That's why we need this combination to give us flexibility.' The BGS highlighted that the data underpinning its research has been shaped by geologists' current understanding of the subsurface, adding that a few parts of the country have been less extensively surveyed than others, and more research is required to fully assess their potential.
