Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) isn’t just an opportunity or threat—it’s both at once. Its impact on the cultural industries in Canada to date has pushed creators, producers and businesses to rethink how creative products are conceived, developed and distributed. GAI is unlocking new opportunities for creatives to work more efficiently, to realize more ambitious projects at lower costs and to expand the nature and scope of creative practice. It’s no surprise that 1 in 4 businesses in the information and cultural industries in Canada have integrated AI into their workflows, according to Stats Canada. This profound and rapid shift has led representatives for artists and creatives to call for policy responses that ensure that the foundations of creative work—the human body and mind, intellectual property, copyright and skilled creative labour—are understood and centred.
The Cultural Policy Hub has been working to ensure that Canada’s creative industries have a voice in the policy debate on GAI. This included creating a bilingual toolkit to help artists, cultural workers and organizations participate in the ISED Consultation on Copyright in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence. A recent blog post summarizes a roundtable in November 2023 co-created with the Department of Canadian Heritage as a conversation between experts and senior government officials on the social impacts of AI. The blog briefly outlines key issues in the AI policy landscape in Canada and highlights directions from researchers and creative sector experts on responsible AI governance and policymaking. Those directions serve as a point of departure to address an important issue: how to facilitate dialogue and understanding between policymakers, creative professionals (and civil society at large) to ensure that future policy directions promote cultural and technological innovation while setting creators up to benefit from those innovations.
Bringing together representatives from across the cultural industries and policymakers who are at the forefront of AI governance and regulation, this roundtable will explore the cultural policy implications of GAI-fueled shifts to Canada’s cultural industries. What are the ethical and regulatory implications of the recent proliferation of GAI tools? What role can the cultural sector play in shaping policy and regulatory frameworks, and what, ultimately, does this regulatory landscape bode for the future of Canada’s cultural industries? How can policymakers and cultural industry workers collaborate to ensure adequate copyright, intellectual property, and labour protections are implemented in policy to safeguard the rights and futures of those in the sector?