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Union welcomes federal plan but warns voluntary rules won’t protect media and arts workers from rapacious AI companies.
Australia’s peak creative industries union has welcomed the federal government’s new National AI Plan but warned that voluntary safeguards will not be enough to protect media and arts workers from the rapid spread of generative AI.
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance said the plan’s commitment to monitoring, consultation, and responses to AI-related workplace risks is a necessary first step, but stronger guardrails are essential to prevent job losses, copyright breaches, and deceptive AI-generated content.
MEAA Chief Executive Erin Madeley (pictured) said the union would hold the government to its promise to address AI’s negative impacts on creative and media workers.
“MEAA welcomes the comments by Minister Ayers indicating the need to strengthen copyright and related regulation to guarantee workers fully benefit from AI developments, and we will continue to campaign for business and big tech to ‘pay up’,” Madeley said in a December 3 statement.
Madeley also backed the government’s creation of a new AI Safety Institute, calling it “a necessary watchdog to ensure businesses and AI developers are compliant with Australian law”.
However, she stressed the need for “comprehensive protections that would proactively mitigate against potential harms caused by AI”.
A key point of contention is the government’s decision to issue voluntary guidelines on transparency and watermarking of AI-generated content. The MEAA said such an approach “has a poor record in protecting workers and consumers”.
“MEAA calls on the government to work towards making these guidelines mandatory as a simple and effective step in mitigating some of the most well-known dangers of AI: the devaluation of human-made art, media and creative work, and the spread of misinformation and disinformation,” Madeley said.
“By opting for voluntary guidelines, the government risks undermining copyright protections by exposing Australian creative and media workers to being squeezed out by cheap, AI-generated replacements. Australians should have the right to choose human-made creative work over AI-generated material.”
The union also called for clarity around how the government intends to enforce transparency around the training data used by AI companies. The MEAA contends that disclosure is essential not only to uphold copyright but to ensure AI systems are developed without breaching privacy or embedding harmful bias.
The union expects further detail from the government “in the coming months”.
You can see how other industry bodies reacted to the National AI Plan here.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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