Action needed to protect our creative future in the age of Generative AI

The CREAATIF project, funded by AHRC and the BRAID programme and run in partnership with four major unions—Equity, Bectu, the Musicians’ Union, and the Society of Authors—spoke to 335 freelance creative workers to understand how GenAI is affecting their rights, work, and livelihoods. The project sets out seven key policy and regulatory recommendations to make sure new technologies support, rather than undermine, the value and future of work in an industry that contributes over £100 billion to the UK economy each year.

David Leslie, Professor of Ethics, Technology and Society at Queen Mary University of London and CREAATIF Project Lead said:

“The GenAI revolution is shaking up every part of cultural production—from the first spark of an idea to how creative work gets out into the world. Freelance creative workers, who experience work life without the protections that come with salaried jobs, are especially vulnerable to these changes.

“That’s why CREAATIF took a close look at what’s happening to these workers. As the policy and regulatory landscape shifts around us, we’ve used what we learned to put forward clear, practical recommendations—while also highlighting some of the opportunities GenAI could bring to creative workers if handled ethically, equitably, and responsibly.”

Key policy and regulatory recommendations

• Fair Remuneration: Enforce existing ownership rights and create new mechanisms to redistribute GenAI-generated revenues back to the human sources of creative data and content.
• Legislative Reform: Update UK laws to protect the freelance creative workforce — addressing employment rights, skills development, and AI-specific risks — in partnership with unions and industry experts.
• Inclusive AI Governance: Embed creative workforce perspectives in AI regulatory design, ensuring structured engagement that includes not only traditional ‘creators’, but all affected roles.
• Stronger Regulation for AI Firms: Mandate transparency, prompt action on infringement, and compensation when GenAI systems use creative outputs without consent.
• Ongoing Impact Assessments: Monitor the effects of GenAI on job quality, working conditions, and income security across the creative workforce, with clear accountability mechanisms.
• Preserving Human Originality: Introduce ‘human made’ watermarking and provenance tools that enable consumers to distinguish AI-generated content and support originality in commercial ecosystems.
• Workforce Training and Empowerment: Provide targeted education on IP and labour rights, contract negotiation, anti-mimicry strategies, and how to challenge bias and misrepresentation in GenAI tools.

Dr Aoife Monks, Director of the Centre for Creative Collaboration at Queen Mary University of London said:

"The creative workforce has built one of the eight growth areas of the UK economy. They deserve fair compensation, stronger protections around intellectual property and clearer guidelines and transparency around the use of creative work in training AI models.

“Economic growth should mean equitable growth, and this research reveals the need for a policy approach that takes account of the complex eco-system of freelance working conditions.

“Queen Mary is proud to have collaborated with the Alan Turing Institute, The Institute for the Future of Work and major arts unions for this research, demonstrating our commitment to partnership with the creative industries to tackle real world problems.”

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Reactions to the report

Commenting on the report,

Anna Thomas MBE, Founding Director at the Institute for the Future of Work, said:

“The findings from the CREAATIF project highlight the current focus in regulation and policy on guarding individual creativity is no longer working, shown by the recent drop in productivity measures. To protect the UK’s world-class creative industries, we must charter a new course reoriented towards recognition of new collective impacts and responses in the age of Gen AI.

“With the new strategy due this month, the government have an opportunity to reset the transformation of the creative industries with a society-wide approach, regulatory innovation and experimental pilots which combine good governance with responsive innovation aimed at the public interest - not short-term gains which don't properly protect our creative workers.

“A new focus on local good work in the creative industries will help us align interests and direct GenAI towards solving some of the biggest challenges we face as a country.”

Equity’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs Tom Peters said:

“Today’s report sets out a clear plan to ensure that the adoption of artificial intelligence does not come at the expense of our world-leading creative industries.

“For too long, big tech companies have been getting away with the industrial-scale theft of creator’s works, which they use to build artificial intelligence models without consent or fair pay.

“Urgent action is necessary to keep human-made stories at the centre of our cultural life.

“This requires AI companies to be transparent and the government to enforce UK copyright law. Creators’ rights to consent and pay are non-negotiable.”

Head of Bectu, Philippa Childs said:

“The rapid introduction of AI technologies presents significant challenges across the creative industries. And as with other industry, technological and economic shifts, it is the freelance workforce – who underpin this vital sector – who will feel the effects most keenly.

“Bectu's own survey of over 5,500 creative workers revealed that just 10% predicted that AI will have a positive impact on the industry they work in over the next five years.

“Clearly, we need urgent mechanisms for safe, fair, and responsible AI content production and distribution. This means more transparency over AI use, and consultation with workers, especially freelancers. Above all, the use of AI must ensure that human creativity is amplified rather than replaced – it is vital that human creatives are both employed and adequately compensated.

“Bectu is pleased to have contributed to this important research project and we fully endorse its recommendations. It is now critical that employers and policymakers engage with the findings, and with workers and unions, to develop AI governance that is fit for purpose and focuses on skills, employment and rights for the freelance creative workforce in the age of GenAI.”

The Musicians’ Union General Secretary, Naomi Pohl said:

“The Musicians' Union is clear that AI systems should not be trained on copyright-protected music without specific consent from the music’s creators, and meaningful compensation being paid to them in return.

“We are also arguing that historical contracts which were written before the advent of AI should not give those rights holders the authority to act on the creators’ behalf when it comes to AI training.”

Anna Ganley, Chief Executive of The Society of Authors said:

“The Society of Authors welcomes the CREAATIF policy recommendations around AI governance. They provide a clear and necessary way forward to maintain the rights of creative workers. As generative AI develops in ways that often sideline consent, attribution and fair compensation for authors, these recommendations call for comprehensive accountability, stronger regulation and the meaningful inclusion of authors in shaping the future of technology.

 “These widespread policy recommendations affirm that technology must serve creativity with transparency and integrity, not exploit it. By partnering with creative workers to co-design workflows that enhance, rather than replace, human expression, and requiring companies to disclose the use of AI training datasets, they provide a practical and actionable roadmap towards a creative economy that is inclusive, sustainable and fair.

“We urge Government to act with urgency to protect those whose talent powers the creative industries, and we call on publishers to continue to support and protect their creative talent.’

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