In an open letter titled “Stop Devaluing Music,” a group of over 200 artists, including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, and Pearl Jam, denounce the irresponsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry. They accuse big tech companies of using AI to infringe on their rights and undermine their creative work.
While acknowledging the potential of AI to boost human creativity, the artists argue that some platforms and developers are using it to replace human labor with AI-generated sounds and images. This, they warn, could degrade the value of music and negatively impact artists’ earnings.
“For many artists and composers trying to make ends meet, this would be catastrophic,” they state in the letter.
Big Tech in the Spotlight
The letter targets companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google, though without explicitly naming them. The artists claim that these companies are using their work to train AI models without their consent.
“These efforts are aimed at replacing the work of human artists with massive amounts of AI-created sounds and images,” they state.
AI, a Threat to Creativity?
The artists’ concerns are intensifying in a context where AI is advancing rapidly. The recent release of tools like Adobe’s Project Music GenAI Control and Microsoft’s Copilot, which can create complete melodies from a text prompt, raises fears that AI could replace human artists in the future.
Artists Join the Fight Against AI
Musicians are not the first to speak out against the use of AI. Writers like George R. R. Martin have filed lawsuits against tools like ChatGPT for copyright infringement.
In their letter, the artists demand that this “attack on human creativity” be stopped and that artists be protected from the predatory use of AI.
OpenAI Defends Itself
In response to the criticism, OpenAI, the company responsible for tools like DALL-E and ChatGPT, argues that it is impossible to create AI without violating copyrights. Sam Altman, CEO of the company, says that all forms of human expression are protected by copyright, which makes it inevitable that copyrighted material will be used to train AI models.
An Uncertain Future for Music
The battle between AI and human creativity is just beginning. The future of music will depend on how the use of AI in the industry is managed. Artists are demanding responsible use that respects their rights and values their creative work.
Questions to Consider:
- Do you agree with this complaint from the musicians?
- If musicians are doing it, so could writers, designers, architects, engineers, salespeople, call center workers, and especially tech workers, who have lost the most jobs to AI in large companies.
- Do you think AI could surpass the creativity, talent, and musical value of a guitarist like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, or John Mayer?
- Would you like to go to a concert of a robot that played the guitar much better than Steve Vai through artificial intelligence, or would you actually pay to go see Satriani live?
- For example, what would be more valuable: a painting created by AI and printed out or a painting created by the hand of a human artist?
- Who should be worried about the “devaluation of music”: bad artists or good artists?
- Would you like to go to a classical music concert performed by a computer or listen to the instruments played by professional musicians?
Here is the list of the 200 artists who denounce AI:
https://artistrightsnow.medium.com/200-artists-urge-tech-platforms-stop-devaluing-music-559fb109bbac
For more information:
- https://apnews.com/article/artists-ai-image-generators-stable-diffusion-midjourney-7ebcb6e6ddca3f165a3065c70ce85904
- https://www.billboard.com/lists/ways-ai-has-changed-music-industry-artificial-intelligence/
By: Nestor Castillo, ForAllTechNews Director
This image was originally posted to Flickr by crommelincklars at https://flickr.com/photos/142899511@N03/48590443071 (archive). It was reviewed on 26 August 2019 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.