AI will die "overnight" if copyright permission is enforced, says former Meta exec

Editor's take: The UK Parliament is debating the Data (Use and Access) Bill, a law set to regulate access to user and customer data. The bill could have a dramatic impact on the IT sector, particularly AI companies that aggressively collect vast amounts of human-generated data online to train their often unpredictable chatbots. Former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says artificial intelligence companies shouldn't need to seek permission every time they use copyright-protected data. Speaking at a recent event to promote his book, "How to Save the Internet," Clegg – who previously served as a Meta executive – sided with the AI industry on the issue. Forcing technology firms to comply with copyright laws – and notify rights holders when they use protected content to train artificial intelligence models – would kill the UK's AI industry "overnight," Clegg warned. The content is already publicly available, he argued, and AI systems need vast amounts of data to improve their reasoning ... Read full article.