Written by Chiara Piacentini
staff writer
Artificial intelligence is making great strides in the entertainment industry, but some celebrities are concerned that these advances are going too far. A petition sent to AI developers to protect artists' rights was published by the Artist Rights Alliance on April 1, with signatures from over 200 celebrities. Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry were also among the petitioners.
Artist Rights Alliance is a nonprofit organization supporting musicians in an increasingly digital world.
While the petition acknowledges that AI creates creative opportunities, it also notes some of the threats AI poses to human work, such as using AI to imitate an artist's voice. are doing.
“Unfortunately, some platforms and developers are using AI to stifle creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians, and rights holders,” the petition states.
The letter goes on to ask AI creators not to continue producing AI-generated materials without the artist's consent.
“We urge all AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services to create AI music that undermines, replaces, or negates the human artistry of songwriters and artists. “We call on you to pledge not to develop or deploy technology, content, or tools that will reward you fairly for our work,” the letter concludes.
This isn't the only complaint about AI in the celebrity field. Last September, Queen's Brian May expressed concerns about how AI will be incorporated into music in the future in an interview with Guitar Player.
“I think by next year things will have changed completely,” May said, according to People magazine. “I feel uneasy about not knowing what is made by AI and what is made by humans.”
A few months later, Bad Bunny spoke out against AI after a Chilean artist's remake of “Demo #5: Nostalgia” went viral on TikTok, using AI as Bad Bunny's voice. .
“If you like this shitty song that's trending on TikTok, leave this group now. You don't deserve to be my friends,” he told his 20 million followers on his Whatsapp channel. Ta.
Due to a legal vacuum, Bad Bunny was unable to file a lawsuit against the artist. This petition aims to take a first step toward filling this void by proposing that AI developers be prohibited from creating “imitations” of artists' work without their permission.
Tennessee also passed the Portrait, Sound, and Image Security Act (also known as the ELVIS Act) in March, giving artists a ray of hope. This law was created to protect musicians from possible AI threats. The aim is to ensure that AI-generated artist voices are not created without the artist's approval.
The bill will go into effect on July 1st.
