‘Do we need this?’: Artists, musicians and writers question federal approach to AI at national summit

Since being appointed as Canada’s first cabinet minister dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI) last year, Evan Solomon has given countless speeches across the country to outline the government’s approach to the burgeoning and disruptive technology — and nearly every single public appearance has included a similar passage. “Technology moves at the speed of innovation, but adoption moves at the speed of trust,” Solomon (Toronto Centre, Ont.) has repeatedly said. Technology will always evolve, according to Solomon, but the pace at which society embraces AI is largely dependent on peoples’ trust level. It is partly why Solomon, alongside Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, Que.), have invited the country’s artistic industries for a national summit on AI and culture, held this week in Banff, Alta. The event is rooted in three core tenets: “build,” “empower,” and “protect.” According to a government website, the summit will be characterized by a spirit of “collaboration.” But several cultural industry representatives told The Wire Report that they would use a different word to describe their feelings — ‘skepticism.’ “We’re going in with a sense of cautious skeptical optimism,” said Barbora Racevičiūtė, national director of the Independent Media Arts Alliance. “There is that skepticism about the timing, but I don’t think anyone engaged in advocacy work can go into these spaces with a foregone conclusion.” It is unusual that the government decided to hold the summit after it finished the consultation on its forthcoming AI strategy, set to be released later this quarter, said Racevičiūtė, who also sits on the steering committee for the Canadian Arts Coalition. “The task force already happened,” she continued. “The AI strategy has already been drafted and will be released shortly.” “So…, it will be interesting to see how much policy conversation we will actually have.” However, “if we thought it was performative, we wouldn’t be going,” Racevičiūtė remarked. Ottawa’s consultation saw recommendations from a slate of field-leading experts, as well as thousands of submissions from the general public, though the corresponding summary report was criticized by some who believed the government selectively chose what to include. The process unfolded over only 30 days, and Solomon decided to frame the consultation as a “national sprint,” which also has caused consternation in the cultural sectors. “There doesn’t seem to be a lot of room for saying, ‘well, maybe AI is not useful to our particular sector,’” said Giorgia Severini, executive director of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. “It feels like we are being forced into using AI just because it’s there, and not really engaging with what problems our sector has, and how AI is going to help us.” “The attitude I’m seeing with AI is that it’s faster and cheaper, but do we really need this in culture?” Other stakeholders said the rapidly-evolving nature of AI has forced the government to act with urgency, or risk missing out on potential economic opportunities. Moyra Rodgers, founder and CEO of the audience development company Magnify Digital, said Canada cannot wait for its AI policy to be “perfect.” “Policymaking does not move at the pace of technology,” said Rodgers, who is attending the summit this week. “We’ve got to stop defining the problem. We know what the problem is we need to start moving towards action.” “There's that saying — how do you swallow an elephant? One bite at a time. So, I don’t think we can wait to get this perfect.” Artists look for clarity on text and data mining Perhaps the most highly-anticipated discussion at the summit will centre on copyright protections for cultural producers and, more specifically, the likelihood of Ottawa introducing an exception for text and data mining (TDM). TDM refers to the practice of scraping and analyzing massive amounts of text-based and other computational data, oftentimes from copyrighted materials, for research or commercial purposes. Recently, AI companies have increasingly used TDM activities to help train large language models (LLMs), including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Alphabet Inc.’s Gemini, and Anthropic PBC’s Claude. Various jurisdictions, including the European Union, have embedded a specific TDM exception in copyright law, while others, like the U.S., have tacitly allowed the practice under ‘fair use’ laws, which permits limited use of copyrighted content at no cost. Canada has a similar legal element, known as ‘fair dealing,’ but it’s unclear whether it extends to TDM. A 2024 government consultation found the issue was hotly-contest between tech entrepreneurs, who advocated for an exception, and the cultural industry, which sought restrictions on the practice. Many artistic organizations feel vulnerable to large-scale TDM activities, which they worry could devastate compensation streams for cultural producers. There has yet to be a Canadian court case that has ruled on whether TDM falls under ‘fair dealing’ provisions, although some are in progress, but there is no exception included in the Copyright Act — and cultural advocates want to keep it that way. “Our dream scenario… would be a firm commitment from the government that they won’t introduce any exception for text and data mining,” said Marie-Julie Desrochers, executive director of the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. “It would clarify the fact that are not authorized to use copyrighted work to feed the system… creators want to get paid for the use of their work and they also want to have the possibility to authorize or not the use of their work.” Meanwhile, when asked what would make the national AI summit a success, Andrew Cash, president and CEO of the Canadian Independent Music Association, said maintaining zero exceptions for “illegal scraping of material for training LLMs for which no compensation… has been agreed upon.” “We have big corporate interests wanting to see no regulation, or text and data mining exceptions,” he said in a phone interview. “But there are business models that we work within that we feel are sufficient to work through licensing…, so we don’t see the need for changes to the Copyright Act to allow for exemptions.” “I’ll be curious to hear what long-term thinking is.” Miller has yet to commit to updated copyright legislation, though he recently told The Wire Report that changes “may” be needed to address AI-related considerations. Cash, also a singer-songwriter and former NDP MP, added that he’s thankful the government is ensuring there’s a dialogue with the artistic sectors, which he said have been excluded from important policy conversations in recent years. “It’s incumbent on us in the sector to be able to effectively communicate why we need to be there,” said Cash. “There has been a concern over the last few years that culture has not been at the table.” But, he continued, Canadians shouldn’t expect the summit to produce any short-term changes, as its effects will unfold over the coming months. “I’m looking at this as a good beginning of debate and conversation that needs to happen,” said Cash. “But what comes out of it? We’ll see, the value and success of this summit will not be understood until a year from now.” The summit got underway on March 15, and is set to wrap up on March 17. dlegree@thewirereport.ca

‘Do we need this?’: Artists, musicians and writers question federal approach to AI at national summit

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By Davis Legree
|March 16, 2026

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‘Do we need this?’: Artists, musicians and writers question federal approach to AI at national summit

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