Liberal senator demands copyright protection in AI policy
Andrew McLachlan urges Labor not to weaken copyright law to attract AI investment. He says datacentres must be built with environmental safeguards.
Reported by The GuardianClaims checked against the source, 20 h ago.
ShareWhy it matters
How Australia balances AI investment will matter greatly. The balance will shape whether artists' income and environmental health are protected.
In Australia. Australian artists and musicians could lose income if copyright is weakened; new datacentres will increase power demand and emissions affecting household costs.
Key facts
- Andrew McLachlan
- Senator
- South Australia
- State
- Anthropic
- AI company proposing opt-out
- Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan has pushed back against the government's planned AI policy.
- McLachlan warns that artists' property rights must not be sacrificed for corporate profit or investment.
- Labor is considering copyright changes that would let some AI companies scrape copyrighted material.
- Some propose an opt-out model where creators must object to have their work protected.
- McLachlan said this risks putting machines above artistic beauty.
- McLachlan also warned that new datacentres needed to power AI should not be built at the expense of Australia's biodiversity.
- The government has signalled AI investment and datacentres are priorities.
- But artists, environmentalists and some Coalition members worry about losing creative workers' rights and Australia's natural forests.
