Latest news with #BBCPoliticsMidlands
BBC News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Artists fear AI using their talent for free
For young composer Lily Dooner, the human voice – with all its complexity - represents the "ultimate instrument".But her worst fear is finding her own distinctive vocals have been stolen from her by the power of artificial intelligence (AI)."What really scares me is the idea that one day I might be watching a film, and hear a voice created out of snippets of mine," she Leominster resident, 28, is among artists from Herefordshire who have been telling BBC Politics Midlands that AI poses a risk to their livelihoods without greater copyright protection for their work. At present, generative AI programmes mine, or learn, from vast amounts of data including text, images, music or speech to generate new content which appears like it has been made by a human Dooner said AI's vast potential – and speed – was already impacting creative industries like her own."AI can give you something passable in seconds… for me to give you something it's going to be hours of my time," she she said the technology's reliance on mimicry would always hold it back."The difference is AI can't give you something incredible. I can."The rapid rise of AI models has already seen the government clash with rock royalty such as Sir Elton John over issues of copyright exemption. In December, government consultation proposed AI developers should have access to all content unless its individual owners choose to opt out; a move which Sir Elton said would be "thievery on a high scale".Despite repeated attempts by peers in the House of Lords to attach transparency requirements for AI firms to the Data (Use and Access) Bill, in June their amendments were overturned by Labour MPs."The Bill was never intended to alter, and won't alter, copyright law," a spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said."We are continuing to consider the 11,500 responses we received to our separate consultation and next steps will be set out in due course." Tim Evans, artistic director and CEO of Powerhouse, a Herefordshire-based theatre organisation, said: "The genie is out of the bottle - these models cannot be built and will not be built without hoovering up this vast amount of data."A user of AI in theatre production, he himself is no enemy of the his brother Alex died in 2017, he used the software to recreate his voice for the play Mappa Mundi, training the model with dozens of recordings. "We'd batted back and forth ideas about creating a two-man show… the idea was forever lost [when Alex died]. That was until, of course, the explosion of AI technology."But Mr Evans said artists needed to be compensated for their private intellectual property being used."Used in the right way, [AI models] can be used as really powerful, democratizing tools for creativity," he said."As yet the compensation question is being left unanswered." Last month, the science and technology secretary Peter Kyle said he would work with creative industries to develop a sustainable solution following the end of the consultation."I am offering to look comprehensively at the challenges creatives have into the future," he said."I will give them the rights that they have in the analogue age… fit for the digital age."The department said it would publish a wide-ranging report, as well as an economic impact assessment. For the artists in Herefordshire, reform won't mean a thing unless it gives them fair remuneration, they say."At the moment the government favours putting the onus on creators to opt out of having their work scraped by AI," said visual artist Rebecca is currently working to turn sketches and drawings into video animation. It is a time-consuming process. "AI could look at my animations, and then it could copy it in exactly my style… you could put a prompt in to say 'make an animation like Rebecca Farkas'," she said."The creative industries contribute about £126bn to the UK economy each year."You're helping one industry by taking away from another industry," she said. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram.
BBC News
09-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'Birmingham bin workers have little choice' over strike
Refuse workers have little choice but to take strike action over pay, a union representative has members in Birmingham have staged a series of one-day walkouts since January with all-out strike action due to start on 11 on BBC Politics Midlands, Onay Kasar, Unite national lead officer, said: "When you're faced with a pay cut of up to £8,000 a year, what choice do we have?"The city council said it was proposing changes which would only affect 17 people and they face a pay cut of £6,000, not the £8,000 quoted by the union. It also said it had offered those workers promotions and training to help them improve their pay, plus "attractive" voluntary redundancy the council also said the current pay structure was agreed in 2017 and was no longer the industry said the proposed pay changes were crucial if it was to become financially sustainable in the new pay structure was voted through as part of the 2025/26 budget, which includes cuts to a wide range of services and another council tax is the Labour-run authority's second budget since it declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023. Argument over figures Mr Kasar said he was "really worried about the council's arithmetic" and said it would be 70 people affected by the pay cut, not said his union was prepared to talk and to make he added: "Councillors have given themselves a 5% increase this year, clearly there's money for one group of people but not for public service workers."Labour MP for Dudley Sonia Kumar said although she acknowledged the reason refuse workers were striking, "the people of Birmingham were suffering"."I think we need a modern, sustainable and reliable waste service," she said."And I think really we need to work collaboratively with the unions and the stakeholders to get this over the line." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MP says farmers 'feel betrayed' by government
Farmers feel "betrayed" by the government over its planned changes to inheritance tax, an MP has said. From April 2026, agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, would be subject to inheritance tax at 20%. The government previously said it was a "fair and balanced" approach that would help to fix public services and only affect about 500 estates a year. But Stratford-on-Avon MP Manuela Perteghella told BBC Politics Midlands smaller farms could be forced to sell off productive land. "Hundreds of farms are going to be affected by these changes. Frankly, they feel betrayed by the government. They are going to have to sell their land," she said. Ms Perteghella said the value of farmers' land did not equal their earnings and that many did not earn much more than the minimum wage. "These are small family farms, and these changes will do nothing to discourage wealthy individuals who land bank for tax purposes," the Liberal Democrat MP added. A number of protests have been held since the policy was announced in October's budget, including when hundreds of tractors blocked Westminster last Monday. Eddie Hughes, former Conservative MP for Walsall North, said farmers were not prepared for "this dreadfully pernicious tax", adding that there should have been more consultation. "They [the government] categorically said in the run-up to the election this would not happen. It was said multiple times by all members of the cabinet, so it seems crazy we're in this position," he added. Representatives of the National Farmers' Union (NFU) are due to meet with Treasury ministers on Tuesday. Adam Jogee, Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, said he had spoken to farmers in his constituency and that it was important ministers listened to the "strength of feeling". "I want to see our farming industry supported. I want them to feel they are part of how we move our country forward," he said. But Mr Jogee said it was important to tackle the issue of wealthy individuals buying up farmland "because it suits them financially". "This has to be a conversation that delivers real results for people sitting at the table," he added. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Farmer confronts minister over inheritance tax Farmers protest tax changes with tractor convoys Inheritance tax makes farmer want early death - MP Farmers drive tractor convoy in tax protest National Farmers' Union
BBC News
16-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Stratford-on-Avon MP says farmers 'feel betrayed' by government
Farmers feel "betrayed" by the government over its planned changes to inheritance tax, an MP has April 2026, agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, would be subject to inheritance tax at 20%.The government previously said it was a "fair and balanced" approach that would help to fix public services and only affect about 500 estates a Stratford-on-Avon MP Manuela Perteghella told BBC Politics Midlands smaller farms could be forced to sell off productive land. "Hundreds of farms are going to be affected by these changes. Frankly, they feel betrayed by the government. They are going to have to sell their land," she Perteghella said the value of farmers' land did not equal their earnings and that many did not earn much more than the minimum wage."These are small family farms, and these changes will do nothing to discourage wealthy individuals who land bank for tax purposes," the Liberal Democrat MP added. A number of protests have been held since the policy was announced in October's budget, including when hundreds of tractors blocked Westminster last Hughes, former Conservative MP for Walsall North, said farmers were not prepared for "this dreadfully pernicious tax", adding that there should have been more consultation."They [the government] categorically said in the run-up to the election this would not happen. It was said multiple times by all members of the cabinet, so it seems crazy we're in this position," he added. Representatives of the National Farmers' Union (NFU) are due to meet with Treasury ministers on Jogee, Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, said he had spoken to farmers in his constituency and that it was important ministers listened to the "strength of feeling"."I want to see our farming industry supported. I want them to feel they are part of how we move our country forward," he Mr Jogee said it was important to tackle the issue of wealthy individuals buying up farmland "because it suits them financially"."This has to be a conversation that delivers real results for people sitting at the table," he added. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
