This is MEAA’s submission to submission to the Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) inquiry into the opportunities and
impacts for Australia arising out of the uptake of AI technologies.
The challenge that AI presents is that it has the potential to dislocate and devalue the work of artists, creators, and journalists, bringing about the most profound change in the relationship between work and production since the advent of the Internet. As with the Internet’s rise, policymakers have been slow to respond to the profound challenges that AI presents to our cultural and working lives.
MEAA believes that everyone has the right to human-led culture and artistic participation and that this is fundamental to a thriving democracy.
This is ensured by maintaining sustainable arts, culture, and media sectors where all workers are treated with respect and are afforded fair pay and conditions.
When considering regulation for AI, governments must ensure that it will benefit society, and not be used as a tool for exploitation, to entrench inequality or make the world a less safe and unsustainable place.
