Thousands of artists, including musicians from ABBA, The Cure, and Radiohead, have signed a protest letter against using creative works to train artificial intelligence tools. Musicians, actors, and authors have joined forces to warn against the exploitation of their artistry. This is the latest in a series of concerns about AI tools that can produce synthetic images, music, and writings after being trained on vast collections of human-made works.
“The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a significant, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted,” the statement reads. Among the 13,500 signatories are Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, The Cure's Robert Smith, Thom Yorke and his Radiohead bandmates, and composers John Rutter and Max Richter. Other notable figures include writers such as Nobel-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, Emma Donoghue, Ian Rankin, James Patterson, Ted Chiang, and Joanne Harris, as well as actors Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon, Rosario Dawson, and Kate McKinnon.
Following the release of the statement, Gee Davy, the interim CEO for the Association of Independent Music, expressed support: “On behalf of the UK’s independent music community – businesses who are proud to work in partnership with artists – we support this statement from Fairly Trained.” He added, “To achieve the benefits of AI for creativity, we urge policymakers not to lose sight of the need for strong copyright protections. This is vital to ensure a healthy future for those who create, invest in, and release music across genres and all communities, regions, and nations of the UK.”
This recent statement comes amid ongoing legal disputes between the creative world and tech firms over the use of their work to train AI models like ChatGPT. Several artists have already voiced their concerns, including Nick Cave, who described AI songwriting as “a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human” and called the impact of AI in music “unbelievably disturbing.” Earlier this year, over 200 artists, including Stevie Wonder, Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, R.E.M., and the estates of Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra, signed an open letter calling on AI tech companies to stop using AI “to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.”
However, not all musicians are against the use of AI in the music industry. Canadian electro artist Grimes supports the idea of streaming services like Spotify having a section dedicated to AI songs and has even encouraged fans to use her voice “without penalty.” DJ David Guetta and legendary musician Nile Rodgers also back the use of AI tools in music, with Rodgers stating that while using AI to copy another person's sound is “horrible,” using AI to “artistically express yourself and make better music is fantastic.”
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