The Australian head of media giant News Corp has warned society will suffer unless artificial intelligence companies are prevented from stealing journalism from mainstream media outlets.

Michael Miller, News Corp Australasia’s executive chairman, on Wednesday warned about a dystopian future in which there will be fewer journalists to hold the powerful to account and access to information will be guarded by machines.

“Our industry is buckling under the weight of the four seismic waves of disruption, and you know who will suffer the most? The Australian people,” he told the Melbourne Press Club. “AI firms are now using bots to scrape all the material that we are publishing online. A new Big Steal.”

He cited the case of Trent Dalton, the bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe, who saw

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