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The single biggest threat to the career of authors and, consequently, to our society is far from being distracted audiences. In fact, it is AI.

British publishing industry – contributing exceeding £11bn – has sat by while big tech scraped copyrighted material from the internet to train their AI systems. Not long ago, a developer agreed to a multi-billion dollar copyright case, but the ship has clearly departed, and AI developers is advancing with the content.

As a author representative and CEO of an influential firms in the UK and beyond, I am convinced this is an issue society should be concerned with – not due to opposition to technology, but because we must to preserve human expression. Without the essential element that is intrinsic to being uniquely human – our ability to reason like humans, create stories and conceive new worlds – we will face a diminished world.

Many great writers have written about why stories are the lifeblood of civilization and how an artist’s role is to tell truths we might not want to hear. Collaborating with authors like John le Carré and prominent storytellers, I have witnessed directly where exceptional writing originates.

True literary creation is far from being a rehashing of existing content. It is a recipe made up of real-world engagement, experienced trauma and absorbed one’s historical context; it is the outcome of talent, skill and dedication.

The need to write is not a trait that can be instilled – it is a drive that possesses the writer. Inspired writers cannot not write. They might employ editing tools and automated helpers, but few things would be more abhorrent to the writer than an idea being offered to them via algorithm that they were then invited to “adapt”.

Not All Automation Necessarily Is Negative

Technology that does not supplant the author, or that will work with them transparently, is not entirely negative. An artist required for additional filming might allow use of the footage to enhance a film. It might save on budget, environmental impact and time. An author may wish to accelerate their investigation by training their own models. AI interpreters may enhance the access of foreign books, contributing to our literary heritage.

Such uses are important to consider. However it should be a conversation and be clear to the reader. Until recently, work has simply been stolen without consent, and there are too few safeguards on platforms, media firms, and publishing houses.

Actions to We Do?

It begins with some basic principles for the industry to agree upon. An artists’ rights charter for AI that ensures two key elements: permission and attribution.

• No AI system should be trained on an author’s work without their explicit, informed permission.
• Developers should be required to publish the training materials they have used, and be transparent so that rights owners know when their properties have been incorporated.
• A creator should also be allowed to opt out their work clearly – not having to discover the setting buried beneath lengthy documents of terms and conditions.

In cases where an artist finds that automated systems is significantly distorting the meaning of their creation so that it is unrecognizable from the initial piece, they should be empowered to withdraw consent for its use.

It is also crucial to introduce a label system – akin to nutritional labeling – that prohibit retailers from marketing algorithmically created content without clear credit. Equally, intellectual property rights must be upheld, and this can only be done at the national level and even on an global front – an international framework.

Lastly, AI developers should not be permitted to appeal to “free usage” to justify their collecting of protected content. This creates a real danger to the protection of copyright. It misrepresents the original intention of the “fair use” defense, which was created for researchers to reference freely a small portion from copyrighted material.

These simple rules could look that important, but they will shape how your children learn, how historical accounts are preserved, and how we understand who we are.