
A regulator, a technologist and a politician walking into a conference room - the beginning of a very geeky joke - or more accurately, the start of the second Thomson Talks with Madhav Chinnappa, focused on the specific subject of AI/News & Regulation.
Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, CEO of IMPRESS, offered perspectives on media regulation, the complexity in identifying harm, regulatory methodologies such as state versus self-regulation, and keeping in mind who would be the beneficiaries of any regulation.
Jennifer Beroshi, Head of Policy at Google DeepMind, discussed the challenges of regulating AI, particularly in distinguishing between application of AI and models underpinning them, and the need for forward-thinking governance and posited while this is a broad, controversial and complex area at a high level, that there must be specific smaller issues where we can agree quickly and build from there.
Lord (Chris) Holmes of Richmond MBE advocated for agile and transparent regulation, emphasising the importance of public engagement and ethical considerations in AI governance.
The discussion that followed was filled with much divergence of opinion on many issues, including the foundational one of whether there should be regulation or not. The answers varied from Yes, No, to It-Is-Already-Here.
Regulation: Yes v No The Yes to Regulation camp talked about how the harms are real and exist today and therefore action is needed. On a more practical level, there are areas of less controversy that we should be working on now. This requires collaboration due to the urgency that exists. Election integrity was raised and given the timings in the UK, the need for an immediate voluntary code of conduct between the major political parties, tech companies and publishers was outlined.
The No (or perhaps Maybe/Be Careful ) camp raised the lack of understanding among regulators, how it can stifle research and innovation as well as the potential unintended consequences of hasty regulation. A point was made that GDPR has hindered identifying bad actors in disinformation troll networks. Additionally, there are existing laws around copyright and data privacy that remain relevant to the AI debate.
Globalisation: There were a number of concerns about how the global nature of AI impacts regulation on both a practical level as well as an equity level. For example, given the EU AI Act and the US's AI Bill of Rights, how can the UK act in concert with those initiatives versus being sidelined. Additionally, so much of the thinking is from a Global North perspective where the harms might be even more damaging for the Global South, especially if mishandled. How do we address this imbalance?
Democracy: The impact on democracy overall was discussed and posited that that is what we should be trying to protect, rather than journalism or incumbent players in the information ecosystem. What is the public good and how can we protect that?
Agentic: Regulation could be even more difficult in an agentic world where AI acts without humans in the loop and therefore there are no true good' or bad' actors as in the future of the AI itself is its own agent.
Process: While perspectives varied on the necessity and efficacy of regulation, there was some agreement that a collaborative, dialogue-based approach was needed to achieve the balance between innovation and safeguarding against harm. An interesting point was made by a regulator that one of the most effective techniques they have is human-to-human dialogue to create change in companies without the need for regulatory interventions. A further point was made that involving the public is critical and the process used around IVF could be a model as it was a groundbreaking technology with many ethical issues that required bringing the public on board during the development of regulation.
The second Thomson Talks held on 24th February 2024 at Thomsons London headquarters provided valuable insights into the multifaceted issues surrounding AI regulation in the news industry, highlighting the importance of informed and collaborative approaches with the emergent regulatory landscape to ensure the development of good regulation versus just fast - and potentially damaging - regulation.
The third Thomson Talks will be held in Germany in June 2024.
-- Play
-- --
AI & Disinformation courses
Rethinking disinformation: psychology, prebunking and other tactics to halt the spread.
AI in the newsroom: the ethical approach
Journalism Now
Thomsons e-learning platform
Madhav Chinnappa Thomson Talks
Madhav Chinnappa, the former Director of News Ecosystem Development at Google and veteran news executive, leads our Thought Leadership events Thomson Talks.
Explore our projects across the globe
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
The appointment will drive growth and innovation across the Media Business Unit
Fincons Group, a leading IT business consultancy and systems integrator company...
07/07/2026
International broadcast and streaming expert Big Blue Marble has announced a multi-month Proof of Concept (PoC) for Media over QUIC (MoQ) during a major interna...
07/07/2026
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, is proud to announce that two of its leading products, the PHABRIX Qx rasterizer and LeaderPhabrix L...
07/07/2026
Clear-Com announced that Ross Production Services (RPS), a leading provider of mobile production solutions for live events and broadcasts, has standardized on ...
07/07/2026
LiveU redefined live newsgathering with the invention of cellular bonding. At IBC2026, Stand 7.C24, the company will show how that foundation is evolving into t...
07/07/2026
LucidLink, a leader in cloud-based file services for content creators, today announced an enhanced workflow integration between LucidLink and Adobe Frame.io tha...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
New appointments to Screen Australia board 7 July 2026
The Albanese Labor Government has made new appointments to the Screen Australia board.
Dr Tania Chamber...
07/07/2026
The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck t...
07/07/2026
Berklee College of Music Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's...
07/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists train the immune system to make antibodies against numerous HIV strains Preclinical findings mark progress toward a long-sought vacc...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Open source AI has shown how quickly developers can innovate when models, data a...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...