The APPG for the Future of Work hosted a panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities facing the UK’s creative industries. Generating over £100bn annually and growing at over one and a half times the rate of the rest of the economy, the creative industries hold great potential for the UK economy and its productivity.
Yet as AI, digital platforms, and changing work patterns rapidly reshape the sector, how can we ensure fair pay, job security, and sustainable careers for creative workers? What more can be done to increase freelance protections and ensure that the creative industries continue to grow and thrive?
This session brought together policymakers, industry leaders, and creative professionals and explored key issues such as freelancer rights, skills development, and the role of technology in shaping the future of creative work.
Speakers included:
Lord Jim Knight, APPG on the Future of Work Co-Chair
Paul W Fleming, General Secretary of Equity UK
Professor David Leslie, Director of Ethics and Responsible Innovation Research at The Alan Turing Institute
Nicola Solomon OBE, Solicitor and independent consultant to creators, former Chair of the Creators’ Rights Alliance and former Chief Executive of the Society of Authors
Linton Stephens, Classical Musician and Broadcaster for BBC Radio and TV
Deborah Williams OBE, Data Governance Coach and Futurist
This APPG session discussed findings from the 'Crafting Responsive Assessments of AI and Tech-Impacted Futures (CREAATIF)' research project, a collaboration between Queen Mary University of London, the Institute for the Future of Work, and The Alan Turing Institute, working in partnership with four major unions: Equity, the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (Bectu), the Musicians’ Union, and the Society of Authors.
Read our Policy Brief, which builds on the grassroots and industry-led recommendations of the CREAATIF project and sets out policy recommendations for regulators to build better governance of GenAI.
Read our Research Report, ‘Creative Industries and GenAI: Good Work impacts on a sector in rapid transition’, building on IFOW’s ‘Good Work Charter’ – a ten-point framework for understanding work that is more than employment. This report sets out how these dimensions can be used to organise evidence of workplace and social impacts of AI.