Viner: Government Must Employ ‘Healthy, Human Scepticism’ About Promise Of AI-Driven Growth
Government must employ some “healthy, human scepticism” about the promise of AI-driven growth at the expense of the creative industries and instead place confidence in the ongoing role of journalism in the democratic process, The Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner has said.
Speaking at the News Media Association’s Journalism Matters parliamentary reception this evening, Ms Viner said journalism faced “a perfect storm” of technological disruption, bruised business models, and a fundamental shift in the way that people get their news and information.
These threats include a clampdown on press freedom in the United States which must be strongly resisted, Ms Viner told an audience of more than 120 publishers, Parliamentarians, and civil servants.
She added: “And there is AI. Not all AI of course – who wouldn’t be in favour of technology that can detect tumours, sift through mountains of data, or free people from boring tasks to concentrate on creativity?
“What we should worry about is unregulated technology that can create and spread disinformation on an industrial scale. Or the scraping of creative work by companies that do not ask permission. Or a future where trained journalists are replaced by machines.
“We started investigating actor and director Noel Clarke after women who had experienced his inappropriate behaviour confided in Guardian journalists. They told their stories slowly, painfully, to forensic, empathetic, and above all, human journalists.
“The investment of time, resource and skill involved in verifying, publishing and defending the journalism inn court was significant. What guarantees would a victim of abuse have that an AI-generated summary would reflect their story with the same sensitivity and respect?”
Creators’ hard work should not be taken for free in the name of technological progress, Ms Viner said, and new laws were needed to encourage public interest journalism and curb vexatious, expensive lawsuits from those with a vested interest in keeping journalists quiet.
Ms Viner added: “And we need our government to employ some healthy, human scepticism about the promise of AI-driven growth at the expense of our creative industries — surely the real crown jewels of this country — and have confidence in the ongoing role and importance of journalism in the democratic process.”
The Journalism Matters parliamentary reception this evening was hosted by James Frith MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister.
He said: “Large audiences show that trusted journalism is in demand. But demand alone doesn’t pay the bills. Especially when the demand is to refuse the bill. The truth is, much of the value our media creates now sits within a digital ecosystem shaped by powerful platforms.
“This rapidly evolving system calls on innovation to work with publishers, not around them, so that trusted journalism remains sustainable and diverse. As AI becomes a more deeply supple human advantage, ‘AI mode’ does not have to mean ‘cheat-mode’.
“It is in nobody’s interest for the internet to feed only on itself. I want to support the good actors, with voices across all aspects of this evolving state. The ones that work to ‘live together’ in this space. Our content. Your content is a British mineral wealth. We cannot forfeit this. Transparency and licensing is fundamental.”
Welcoming guests to the event, NMA chief executive Owen Meredith said: “To the parliamentarians in the room, the fight for a free and sustainable press is never over; you have done vital work in recent years combatting threats to press freedom and passing important legislation from the Media Act, to the Online Safety Act and DMCC Act – that detailed work is now starting to come into force and shortly, we hope, begin to bear fruit.
“But we can never rest on our laurels and threats to press freedom and the public’s access to information are ever present. Not least, we’ve seen in well-meaning government proposals to supported pubs and licensed premises and include ill-conceived plan to remove public notices, informing the public of licensing changes in their neighbourhood, torn apart.
“This is not a streamlining of red tape as framed, but an attack on the public’s right to know that must be abandoned. “