Copyright exemption plans for AI are "nothing less than vandalism" say UK architects and designers

Leading UK architects and designers including David Chipperfield, Jasper Morrison and Amanda Levete have opposed government plans to allow artificial intelligence companies to train their models on copyrighted work without consent.

A letter signed by 38 big names in the industry accuses technology secretary Peter Kyle of "running roughshod over one of our most productive and precious sectors".

The government's proposal, set out in a consultation last month, involves exempting AI companies from intellectual property laws so they can train their algorithms on copyrighted works, including art, music, novels and films – unless the copyright holder opts out.

This would then allow AI applications like ChatGPT and Midjourney to generate new text, music and images using the contents of this copyrighted work.

The government hopes the policy will jumpstart UK-based AI companies. But architects and designers argue that it risks harming a thriving existing sector that has "contributed significantly to the nation's wealth, to the nation's reputation, to inward investment and to global trade".

"We are UK designers, we make the built environment, and we punch far above our weight," reads the letter shared with Dezeen.

"We rely on a mix of copyright and IP and patents. Interconnected and progressive, these copyright systems allow us to imagine and build the world around us."

"Until recently, that would have been considered theft"

Removing these protections for creators amounts to "nothing less than vandalism", the 38 signatories argue.

"We add our voices to those across all sectors of the creative industries and the many thousands who have signed letters to the government in saying – it is nothing less than vandalism for the government to overturn them," the letter states.

Morrison accused politicians of "selling out originality to the one-click world of processed 'creativity'".

"The value of our lifetimes' work and businesses is related to the ownership of these copyrights," he told Dezeen. "Providing free access to them is misguided, short-term thinking by the government. Until recently, that would have been considered theft."

Among the other signatories are architects David Chipperfield and Amanda Levete, designers Tomoko Azumi, John Pawson and Tom Dixon, as well as studios including Barber Osgerby, Industrial Facility and Pearson Lloyd.

Design Museum director Tim Marlow, Sheridan Coakley of furnituremaker SCP and design critic Alice Rawsthorn have also signed the letter.

Plans would allow "unchecked misuse"

The government's plans do offer some protection by requiring AI developers to disclose the content used to train their models and allowing copyright holders to opt out of this data mining process.

But critics argue that this system still leaves room for misattribution and misuse.

"They console us with a vague notion of an opt out that would put the onus on individual creatives to defend their copyright," Morrison said. "And we know how that will go."

"AI training on a designer's full portfolio erases attribution and enables unchecked misuse," agreed Industrial Facility founders Kim Colin and Sam Hecht.

"There needs to be protection for all creatives and we ask government for it because industry alone cannot instil it," the duo told Dezeen.

In response to the criticism, a government spokesperson told The Guardian that current copyright law is "holding back the creative industries, media, and AI sector from reaching their full potential".

"Massive threat" to creative community

Many of the signatories, including Barber Osgerby and designer Ross Lovegrove, already work with AI themselves and are quick to point out that they are not opposing the technology as a whole.

"Many of us already experiment with it, seeing it as one more tool in the studio," said Barber Osgerby's Jay Osgerby. "But tools should serve the creative process, not strip it of authorship and value."

"What worries me about the government's current proposal is not just its impact on individual designers, but the longer-term effect on our entire creative ecosystem."

"Despite the obvious power and attraction of AI, to give it unfettered access to our intellectual property would be a massive threat to our creative communities," added Pearson Lloyd co-founder Tom Lloyd.

The architects and designers who signed the letter join a chorus of musicians, including Paul McCartney, Elton John and Dua Lipa, who have spoken out against the government plans in recent weeks.

Copyright experts predicted these concerns in our AItopia series, responding to the AI boom of 2023.

"I personally can completely see why creators are concerned," legal expert Noam Shemtov told Dezeen at the time. "You're using my work, in a way, to make me at a certain point down the line – and maybe not that far – redundant."

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