Arabic version: رؤساء المؤسسات الإخبارية يسعون إلى اتفاقات ترخيص مع شركات الذكاء الاصطناعي
According to ABC News, Australia’s biggest media organisations have called for artificial intelligence companies to pay to license journalism and cultural content rather than use it to train AI without permission. The issue was discussed by leaders from the ABC, SBS, Nine and News Corp Australasia during the Andrew Olle Media Lecture.
ABC managing director Hugh Marks said journalism was a public good that needed protection, arguing AI developers should make licensing deals with Australian news companies. He said there was also a “delicate balance” in ensuring Australians using AI could access high-quality information. SBS managing director Jane Palfreyman said news organisations should not be expected to allow free AI training on their work.
Mr Marks said Anthropic had approached the ABC about audio and video material that captures how Australians speak. News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said AI companies understood that the “theft” of Australian works was a business risk in Australia. Nine chief executive Matt Stanton pointed to Nine’s licensing agreement with Microsoft, under which its journalism will be cited in answers from Copilot, calling it a deal that worked for both sides.
Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni said AI could assist reporting, but original journalism must be protected, correctly attributed and paid for. She said Reuters uses AI for tasks including searching documents, identifying patterns, producing updates, summaries and translations, while requiring journalist review before publication. Galloni also warned that AI systems can lack nuance and context and remain vulnerable to hallucinations and mistakes.
Galloni urged news organisations to share lessons from their AI experiments, saying the industry had a collective responsibility to help the public understand the technology’s possibilities and pitfalls. She said advances in AI could not replace original, first-hand reporting.
