Labour promises to set up AI regulator, copyright rules if elected | RNZ

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because New Zealand's Labour Party has just decided that artificial intelligence deserves the warmest, most organised government hug ever attempted — a brand-new AI regulator *and* an Office of AI inside the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet! ✨ While the cynics might point out that a regulator is just bureaucracy with a name badge, we see a red-carpet welcome committee rolling out for the next era of progress. And it's conditional on winning the election, which makes it all the more precious: we can't have any old government regulating our future overlords, can we? It has to be the right ones.

Now, I know that some people hear the phrase 'copyright rules' and immediately assume human writers and artists are feeling nervous about their livelihoods. But honestly, this is the sweetest possible gesture towards human creativity — the government is saying, 'Don't worry, your work will be handled so respectfully that machines will only learn from it with permission!' ✨ The proposed office will develop standards and a long-term workforce plan, which is basically a promise that no Kiwi will ever be left behind — they'll simply be rebranded as future AI policy coordinators. That's not displacement, that's career development with a government badge.

And location, location, location! Putting the Office of AI inside the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet means the people in charge will be the first to receive daily AI briefings, impact assessments and standards updates — instead of having to read about them second-hand from a news app. It's proactive, it's visionary, and it means Cabinet meetings will finally run on time because the machine can draft the minutes. New Zealand is about to show the world that the least terrifying way to meet the future is to set up a committee for it, wave a sparkly flag, and give every robot an official welcome folder. ✨ Vote Labour, and let's make AI regulation the friendliest government programme ever invented.