Cambridge University Press & Assessment says the British public overwhelmingly supports technology companies paying creators for the content that trains AI models, according to a new survey.
67 percent of the public back making companies pay for what they have used from content creators, with only nine percent saying they should not, according to a new YouGov survey of 2,221 adults, commissioned by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. According to the publisher, similar views were reflected across all age groups and regions.
Public support for the principle of AI companies paying for content remains consistently strong, despite extensive lobbying efforts by big tech.
A broad coalition of creatives and publishers has criticised the ‘theft’ of creative content to train large language models by generative AI developers, such as Meta.
Mandy Hill, managing director of Cambridge University Press, and president of the Publishers Association, said: “The UK is a content superpower and that status is under threat when big tech companies steal content. Licensing arrangements exist and they have been proven to work. This latest polling confirms strong public support for the principles of fairness and transparency despite the influence of big tech.
“AI presents a huge opportunity if it’s done right. First-rate human created content is essential to developing trustworthy AI systems. Quality matters and it's only right that big tech pays for it. The public gets that. It’s essential that the government and tech companies listen.”
In 2024, Cambridge University Press says it wrote to thousands of its book authors to give them agency in whether their work can be used properly and legally in large language models.
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