{"id":545323,"date":"2026-03-18T21:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/545323\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T21:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:20:12","slug":"time-for-serious-talks-on-how-ai-uses-news-media-information-minister-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/545323\/","title":{"rendered":"Time for \u2018serious\u2019 talks on how AI uses news media information: minister – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

Culture Minister Marc Miller says the government must have a serious conversation about artificial intelligence<\/a> (AI) systems\u2019 use of news.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHaving the news cannibalized and regurgitated undermines the spirit of the use of that news in the first place and the purpose for which it\u2019s used and we have to have a serious conversation with the platforms that purport to use it including AI shops,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

Miller was asked whether the government is open to extending its Online News Act<\/a> to AI companies. The Online News Act requires Meta and Google to compensate media outlets for displaying their content. Meta pulled news off its platforms in response, but Google has been making payments under the act.<\/p>\n

He said it\u2019s not a question about opening up the legislation but of making sure companies are acting responsibly.<\/p>\n

Miller was speaking at a national summit of AI and culture, a day after a new report said AI systems depend on Canadian journalism for the information they provide users but don\u2019t offer compensation or proper attribution in return.<\/p>\n

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Researchers at McGill University\u2019s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy tested 2,267 Canadian news stories on ChatGPT<\/a>, Gemini, Claude and Grok.<\/p>\n

They found when the platforms were asked about Canadian news events from their training data, they did not provide source attribution about 82 per cent of the time.<\/p>\n

The report said AI companies now extract value from journalism \u201cat every stage: ingesting news archives as training data, producing derivative content without naming the sources, and delivering answers to consumers that could reduce the need and incentive to visit the original source.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The system \u201caccelerates the economic decline of the journalism it relies on,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n

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Miller said Tuesday he had seen the report. He said he wants the government\u2019s legislation to work, and that \u201cthis is about people paying their fair share.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Asked whether that principle extends to AI companies, Miller said \u201cthe principle of proper compensation for use of proprietary material doesn\u2019t change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller reiterated that the government is open to a deal to bring news back to Meta\u2019s platforms.<\/p>\n

The McGill researchers said in a policy brief the problems posed for journalism by social media and AI systems are distinct.<\/p>\n

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While social media platforms \u201ccaptured advertising revenue by aggregating attention around news content,\u201d the brief reads, \u201cAI companies are doing something different: they are absorbing the substance of journalism, and delivering it directly to consumers as their own product.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means the \u201cconsumer\u2019s need to visit the source is not just reduced by algorithmic demotion, as it was with social media. It is rendered unnecessary by the AI\u2019s response itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

A coalition of Canadian news outlets, which includes The Canadian Press, Torstar, the Globe and Mail, Postmedia and CBC\/Radio-Canada, are suing OpenAI in an Ontario court. They argue OpenAI is using their news content to train ChatGPT, breaching copyright and profiting from the use of that content without permission or compensation.<\/p>\n

When he was asked Tuesday about the government\u2019s position on whether the use of copyrighted materials for AI training violates copyright law, Miller said he doesn\u2019t believe there is a need to open up the law.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIntellectual property reform is a complex issue that goes over and above artificial intelligence, and it is a multi-year process. So it\u2019d be irresponsible in any context to stand here and say nothing\u2019s going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the current copyright law does and should protect those that have created material and people need to be compensated properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 2024 consultation on copyright and artificial intelligence, AI companies maintained that using the material to train their systems doesn\u2019t violate copyright.<\/p>\n

The news publishers\u2019 lawsuit was launched in late 2024. It\u2019s unclear how long it will take for the court to make a decision on the case.<\/p>\n

The House of Commons heritage committee heard last year from groups and unions representing creative industries that take issue with AI\u2019s use of copyright-protected works without permission and want to establish a licensing system covering such use.<\/p>\n

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