The call comes on the eve of a landmark AI summit set up by Rishi Sunak that will be attended by world leaders such as US vice-president Kamala Harris and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, as well as tech executives such as Elon Musk.

The Society of Authors, Publishers Association, Association of Authors’ Agents and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society asked Sunak for “urgent confirmation” that AI systems cannot continue to use copyright-protected works.

They also want “acknowledgement of and recompense for” copyright infringement that has already happened, “transparency and attribution” and an “end to the opaque development of AI”.

AI has the potential to make a major impact on all aspects of publishing, from content creation and marketing to production, data analytics and more.

“As a society we should support human authorship unequivocally,” they said in a joint statement.

“It is of the utmost importance that the government...