What a giveaway!
Papers vs AI , Issue 1644

NATIONAL and regional papers joined up last week to publish identical front pages demanding that the government's AI legislation "make it fAIr" when it comes to the proposed loosening of copyright laws to make creative content available to tech firms free of charge.

The Guardian joined in wholeheartedly with an editorial declaring that "creativity should be cherished, not given away", and a hard-hitting comment piece headlined: "It's grand theft AI and UK ministers are behind it. Oppose this robbery of people's creativity."

But this did not go down well with hacks on the paper – and not just because it carried the joint bylines of Conservative peer Andrew Lloyd Webber and his record-company boss son Alastair.

The Guardian's own newly inked deal with artificial intelligence giant OpenAI (see last Eye) throws open its archive to make hacks' work available to its chatbot. But many of the paper's biggest writers are on freelance contracts, which only give the newspaper exclusive copyright to their words for three months.

Under union-agreed terms, the copyright is then shared with the writer – with a clause saying any cash generated by the freelancer's work, traditionally from the sale of second-use rights to other publications, must be split.

Despite this, there has been no mention of money being shared under the new AI deal. With hacks already in mutinous mood over the dumping of the Observer, one veteran tells the Eye that "a storm is brewing" over this issue too.

Retch stretch
Reach plc's national and regional titles all signed up to the "make it fAIr" campaign, with Daily Mirror editor Caroline Waterston adding a personal online note to readers, saying her paper was "urging the Labour government not to side with big tech on this".

But Retch has leaned heavily into AI lately, to the detriment of its journalism. Since last January, hacks across the titles have been encouraged by bosses to use the in-house AI "Gutenbot", which changes articles published by other Reach brands by using synonyms or re-phrasing passages, then republishes them across other company websites for extra clicks.

The bot has also been known to introduce mistakes and fantasies entirely of its own creation, including adding the names of fictional courts to trial reports and rephrasing criminal charges to make them inaccurate, as well as illustrating travel pieces with photographs from different continents, let alone countries. Originally, AI-generated pieces carried a note telling readers they had been created by the Gutenbot, but these soon disappeared.

As one Mirror hack told the Eye: "AI and clickbait is ruining the Mirror, so I find the audacity of this incredible."

More top stories in the latest issue:

ROGUE MAIL
Mail publisher DMGT has agreed to set up a fresh investigation into a young journalist's allegations of sexual assault by a senior editorial figure.

CLARKE OF THE COURT
Frenetic legal manoeuvrings have preceded the arrival in court of the defamation case actor Noel Clarke is bringing against the Guardian.

FRASER SHARP
Fraser Nelson expressed shock in the Times that some people had questioned Rishi Sunak's Englishness – but how has he missed such racism until now?

AIDING & ABETTING
The Telegraph's is publishing stories critical of gambling while also advertising for a commercially minded senior sports betting writer.

REACH FOR THE GUTTER
February brought perhaps the most revolting examples of clickbait yet from the publishing company that insists it's not a clickbait factory.

DOWN THE PLUGHOLE
Having ditched so many hacks, the Mail is filling its website with shameless plugs for businesses, as well as recycled ancient royal stories.

SACKCLOTH & ASH
Telegraph hacks enjoyed the "Damascene conversion" of Ash Sarkar, whom they dubbed the "Queen of woke" – but her new book suggests otherwise.