Speeches by Hinds.

“Or this financial year?”

“Secretary of State, can I ask about AI and copyright? The Government’s preferred option is to have a general exception for text and data mining, with a so-called opt-out. You had a consultation and a ton of responses. Were you surprised by the virulence of the reaction to the Government’s preferred option, both from th…”

“You will have to have one eventually; you are the Government.”

“Just give us a rough idea of how much you would expect it to come down?”

“There are few that have quite the same tension that we have. It is a fundamental tension and it is particularly strong here because we are a country that has both a strong, very creative sector and a strong, nascent and developing AI sector. In the machinery of government, this Government have tried to deal with that b…”

“Yes, but you would expect to see the time come down?”

“You mentioned the different sub-sectors—publishing and music—and art is another. They have quite different existing systems, processes, associations, guilds and all the rest of it. Is it physically possible to have an effective opt-out mechanism?”

“No Government Minister ever answers the question: “When can we expect the results?” So let me ask a different one. How far through assessing the responses are you? I think you had 11,500 responses from the consultation, and there are the roundtables, the different inputs you are getting and what you are hearing from co…”

“It is, yes, and rather elegantly, if I may say so.”

“Only one in four children, including at school?”

“In due course.”

“What sort of reduction in the amount of time online should we expect to see in one, two or three years’ time?”

“You are suggesting that the amount of time that children spend online, including alone online, is a result of previous Government policies on youth services. The implication would presumably be that all the other countries that have also seen the same increase in the amount of time that children spend online must have …”

“On that 12-month process—”

“How does that manifest for presenters—for the people on screen?”

“Okay, but the question is the same: when do the 12 months end?”

“I need to draw something slightly more out of you, if I may, and then I am done. When you say, “we are doing that work”, how does that manifest? What is the output?”

“Chairman, in your independent report on workplace culture and behaviour, there is a finding that there was some doubt, some cynicism, among some of the corporation’s employees about the ability of management to make the changes necessary in workplace culture and behaviour. Some things were recommended, and you agreed t…”

“And what—”

“Is there a succession plan for your top level of so-called talent? For each individual, is there an alternative?”