7 days to go before the deadline. Still time for a NO, thanks, to the government's AI plan

Updates on our OPEN LETTER and new AI consultation tips.

AI consultation tips from AOI

Hello everyone, the Association of Illustrators yesterday published their new, excellent tips to complete the consultation that are specifically drafted for illustration professionals. The instructions are laid out very clearly and all links are provided.

As we have discussed before, it isn’t necessary to reply to all questions and, by following their wise guidance, it’s going to be a very swift and gratifying process.

Access the AOI consultation page now and give the government a piece of your mind.

Other AI consultation tips

Coincidentally, DACS has also published their new guidance to complete the consultation yesterday. It might be interesting to read both before you set out to write your answers. Or check out the tips we discussed on a previous newsletter.

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The Association of Illustrators has analysed the answers to the AI survey that closed at the end of January and the results are now available. The response to it was astonishing: 6,844 of us took part in just a couple of weeks. It really shows how much can be achieved even in a very short time, and it’s interesting to see how united respondents’ views are in relation to the government’s proposal. It is a satisfying read.

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Exciting updates on our OPEN LETTER

First of all, a big thank you to all those who have already signed our open letter. It went live only six days ago, but at the time of writing 2285 signatories have already added their name to it, and the number is steadily going up! We are so pleased that so many of you are joining us.

We would like to announce that, all going to plan, the open letter will appear this weekend in The Observer, on Sunday, 23rd of February. We will make the names of all signatories available online around the same time, but we will keep it open for new signatures into the following week as well. So, if you haven’t had a chance to sign yet, or know of some friends and colleagues who would like to participate, there is still time to take part!

Sign and share our OPEN LETTER

Small Victories

Tomorrow Against the Box will be one month old. When I look back to where we stood only 30 days ago, the progress we made in spreading awareness about the government’s plans and their consultation gives me great hope.

Chris Haughton’s powerful message has gained 20.5K nods of approval as a post on Instagram. His words have reached, and touched, countless people who hadn’t the faintest idea that a proposal was on the table with the potential to upend their ability to make a living in the future.

So many of our brilliant colleagues took on the challenge to amplify the message, the goal being to reach every single one of us who remained unaware. They came up with original ideas that turned into bold messages, beautiful drawings, compelling narratives and little specks of genius. They displayed such care and imagination that I was often made to pause what I was doing to admire their creations in awe.

The Association of Illustrators has been magnificent in their effort to advise on how to approach our MP for the first time and then, alas, the second time too, since their replies haven’t always been forthcoming. But even in that area we, collectively, made a dent. This is from a post that Chris published only three days after the first:

However, Derek is keen to stress that now is not yet the time to rest on our laurels and urges us to keep writing to our MP, whether we haven’t done so yet or even if they still haven’t replied. An easy way to send them a first email is to use the Creative Rights in AI Coalition’s link, or you can email your MP by wording your own message. You can find your local MP's details HERE and HERE is a sample letter that can be used for inspiration.

Last, but not least, I would like to mention what an amazing work the journalists at The Guardian have consistently done in covering this story. Despite the shocking decision taken by the lead of the organisation to fire more than 100 of their staff and then announce a deal with Open AI, the writers there remain committed to create outstanding work. I think the Guardian has demonstrated to be quite unique in their commitment to cover the government’s AI Action Plan objectively, carefully reporting the facts, rather than rehashing the press releases coming from the tech companies or from the government, which in any case are becoming increasingly undistinguishable.

The most poignant article, for me, was Dan Milmo’s, published on 11 Feb, in which Baroness Kidron is given the opportunity to speak frankly about the fact that the UK copyright consultation is ‘fixed’ in favour of AI firms. Quite simply a must read.