The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Selected Committee has published the second of two reports on connected technologies.
The first was published in early August. It said that users must be given clear information about, and a fair chance to understand, the basis on which their data is used and how to exercise their rights. It also said that the UK government should introduce measures to standardise privacy interfaces for connected devices. Privacy interfaces should be appropriately accessible, intuitive and flexible enough so users with a reasonable level of digital literacy and privacy expectations can use them, without requiring them to go through complex dashboards with long terms and conditions and settings. The use of connected tech in schools and by children in homes raised concerns, including the harvesting and third-party use of children’s data and their lack of control over what technology is used and when.
According to the Committee, the ICO needs to be more proactive and ensure that all products include age-appropriate terms and conditions. The monitoring of employees in smart workplaces should be done only with the consent of those being monitored. The ICO should develop its existing draft guidance on monitoring at work into a principles-based code for designers and operators of workplace connected tech. Further, the Committee supports calls from industry for the government to do more to address the ongoing skills shortage in the cybersecurity sector. It also says that the government must make tackling technology-facilitated abuse a priority. The Office for Product Safety and Standards should convene a working group to bring the industry together to tackle tech abuse.
The Committee has now published a second report. It says that the creative and entertainment potentials of emerging technologies are expensive, providing new ways to distribute content, enhance existing physical experiences and explore immersive virtual worlds. More people are using smart speakers and connected TVs in their homes, more games and leisure activities are incorporating augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies and more artists are relying on digital tools to help bring new creative productions to their audiences. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence has become more sophisticated and better able to generate digital art.
The report explores the impact of the development of AI. The Committee scrutinises the UK’s proposals for regulation of AI generally, before focusing on the implications of the proposed copyright’s exemption for text and data mining (TDM), which risks reducing arts and cultural production as mere “inputs” in AI development. The Committee calls on the UK government to abandon its plans for a TDM exemption and work to rebuild the trust of the creative industries.
The report also evaluates the applications of creative connected technology, from AR/VR to digital and AI-generated art. It considers three case studies, which have shaped its conclusions and recommendations about creative technology and showcase the many different ways that the creative industries are using technology to develop new, immersive cultural experiences. The Committee also considers how the skills shortages in the creative and tech sectors are limiting the growth and potential of creative technology in the UK despite headline successes, and how AI outputs are disrupting traditional cultural production. It recommends that the UK government addresses the issue of skills in its upcoming Cultural Education Plan and ensure that creative technology in the UK despite headline successes, and how AI outputs are disrupting traditional cultural production. It recommends that the UK government addresses the issue of skills in its upcoming Cultural Education Plan and ensure that creatives’ rights are protected from AI-generated media in the future.
