Former Meta executive Nick Clegg asserted that a drive for artist consent would “basically kill” the AI industry as policy makers in the UK consider how to regulate the AI industry.

According to Nick Clegg, the AI industry would be “destroyed” if artists were requested to grant permission for use.

Clegg stated at an event to promote his new book that the creative community should have the option to decline the use of their work to train AI models.

However, he contended that it was not feasible to obtain consent prior to consuming their work.

According to The Times, Clegg stated, “I believe the creative community is interested in taking it to the next level.”

“A significant number of individuals assert that training on my content is contingent upon requesting it.”

“And I must admit that I find that to be somewhat implausible, as these systems are trained on an immense quantity of data.”

“I simply do not comprehend how you approach the situation by addressing each individual prior to others.”

“I am unable to envision how that would be feasible,” Clegg stated.

“And by the way, if you were to implement this in Britain and no one else did, you would effectively eliminate the AI industry in this country overnight.”

The comments are the result of a debate in Parliament regarding new legislation that is designed to provide creative industries with a more comprehensive understanding of how their work is utilized by AI companies.

An amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill would mandate that technology companies disclose the copyrighted works that were employed to train AI models.

Some of the hundreds of musicians, writers, designers, and journalists who signed an open letter in support of the amendment earlier in May include Paul McCartney, Dua Lipa, Elton John, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.