UK to examine labelling AI content among wider copyright reforms

LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Britain plans to ​consider requiring labels ⁠on AI-generated content to protect ​consumers from disinformation and deepfakes, the government said on Wednesday, as it outlined other areas ​of ‌focus to tackle the evolving global challenge.

Technology minister Liz Kendall stressed the need ⁠to strike the right balance between protecting the ⁠creative industries and allowing the AI ​sector to innovate, saying in a statement that the government would take time to "get this right".

The next phase of the government's work on copyright ​and ‌AI would also look at the harms posed by digital replicas without consent, ways for creators to control their work online and support for independent creative organisations, she said.

Regulators worldwide are grappling with legal and ethical challenges ​posed by AI chatbots - whose accessibility to the general public has surged ‌in recent years - that generate new content after being fed popular works by artists.

In 2024, Britain, which ‌Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants to turn into an AI superpower, proposed easing copyright rules to let developers train models on lawfully accessed material, with creators ​able to reserve their rights.

On Wednesday, Kendall said that having engaged extensively with creatives, AI ‌firms, industry bodies, unions, academics and AI adopters, the government has concluded it "no longer has a preferred option".

"We will help creatives control how their work ⁠is ⁠used. This sits at the heart of our ambition ‌for creatives – including independent and smaller creative organisations – to be paid fairly," she said.

She reiterated the ​government's commitment ​to AI, saying the sector was growing 23 times ‌faster than the rest of the economy in Britain, home to the third biggest AI industry in the world after the United States and China. (Reporting by Muvija M, Editing by Paul Sandle)