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Tony Blair's think-tank is preparing to tell the Government that the rise of AI is 'inevitable' – and the UK will be left behind unless creators submit to Big Tech.
A leaked research paper from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), which is bankrolled by US tech billionaire Larry Ellison, claims artists must 'adapt to technological pressure' like they did when photography was invented.
It even argues that content-gobbling AI systems are only 'inspired' by the copyrighted works they consume – pointing out that artists do not usually pay their inspirations.
Keir Starmer's government wants to exempt Big Tech from copyright law, allowing it to use any online material to improve their AI products. Creators would have to opt out of having their work exploited.
According to the leaked TBI report, giving AI firms unrestricted access to online books, music, films and artworks will 'enable art to evolve'.
'The notion that art will somehow die because a new tool makes some tasks easier flies in the face of thousands of years of history and the art world's response to past disruption,' it claims.
'Far from heralding the end of art, artificial intelligence will mark the beginning of totally new ways of being artistic.
'Art has repeatedly adapted to technological pressure and will again.
'Photography's advent in the 19th century...triggered a profound crisis in modern art, yet sparked a series of transformative movements.'
Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison, 80, founder of AI giant Oracle, has given TBI donations totalling nearly £300 million ($375 million) since 2018 and has maintained a personal relationship with Sir Tony Blair, who has an influential voice among liberal politicians.
In Time Magazine Sir Tony, 71, wrote last year: 'Larry has the mind of an engineer, the curiosity of a thousand cats and the humility to keep learning – the chief characteristic of the true change maker.'
He also acknowledged that Oracle is 'the custodian of a staggering portion of the globe's data'.
Ellison, the world's fourth-richest man, has repeatedly argued AI should be given free reign over the internet.
Last month, in a discussion with Sir Tony at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, he said all US data, including DNA, should be put into a giant Oracle database and studied by AI.
Last year, he proposed a dystopian mass surveillance system to allow AI-driven Oracle computers to watch people around the clock.
While the TBI report, Reimagining Copyright In The Age Of AI, does not go quite as far, it generally echoes Ellison's philosophy.
Last night, the TBI denied advocating for giving Big Tech free reign over copyrighted material. It said it will offer advice on how creators can 'generate new funding and creative collaboration opportunities' in the world of AI.
A spokesman said it will support the government's AI proposal, adding the paper will provide a plan for how a text-and-data mining exception, proposed by the Intellectual Property Office, could work and will suggest ways of supporting the creative industries.
