The secret power lunch that could save musicians and authors from AI doom
The in-principle undertaking, discussed at the government's economic roundtable, seemed impossible a fortnight ago when a debate blew up over the prospect of large language models, such as ChatGPT, learning from articles, songs and art without compensating creators.
Cutting-edge AI tools 'learn' from digital content and then allow users to recreate the styles of artists, musicians and authors, sometimes yielding almost identical final results to copyrighted works, and in a fraction of the time. Workers and unions fear the results would devalue creative content.
Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar was one of the top advocates in favour of AI Hoovering up content, declaring last month that copyright exemptions 'could unlock billions of dollars of foreign investment'.
Farquhar was lobbied by Australian Council of Trade Unions assistant secretary Liam O'Brien at lunch – tuna sandwiches and sushi were on the menu for roundtable participants – on Wednesday in a small area near the federal cabinet room. Both men were attending the government's three-day economic reform roundtable.
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Two sources familiar with the conversation between O'Brien and Farquhar, unauthorised to speak publicly, said the pair had a frank exchange over AI at which the tech mogul sought to understand workers' concerns.
O'Brien's boss, ACTU secretary Sally McManus, said productive talks at this week's summit had created a breakthrough.
'There was discussion with the Tech Council [chaired by Farquhar] and the ACTU about wanting to address the issue of properly paying creatives, journalists and academics,' McManus said.
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