We can’t let AI raid the foundations of our democracy
Behind the AI copyright debate is a bigger fight over whether Australia will protect the information ecosystem our democracy relies on.
There is a fight playing out in Australia that should concern anyone who cares about democracy. At its core, it is about the kind of information ecosystem we want to support, and whether that ecosystem can continue to sustain vibrant public discussion and debate.
Artificial intelligence giants — Anthropic, Google and OpenAI — are lobbying for changes to Australia’s copyright laws that would allow them to train their models on locally produced content without paying for it. They frame this as an investment opportunity, promising Australia a place at the forefront of a new technology and the chance to attract capital for data centres. But that is not the real choice.
Last year, the Productivity Commission proposed a “text and data mining” exception that would allow AI companies to freely harvest copyrighted material, including news articles, creative writing and journalism, to train their models. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has so far rejected that specific exception, and she is right to do so.
But the pressure has not eased. AI companies have reportedly warned members of the government that the investment window on new data centres in Australia will close within 18 months unless copyright laws are relaxed.
