As AI eventually starts branching out into the music industry, which may potentially harm the livelihood of famous musicians, notable stars such as Katy Perry, Billie Eilish, and a multitude of others have decided to collectively address this problem. They reached out to developers, companies, services, and other entities by using the only way they knew – through a letter. The contents of this letter reveal that these high-profile artists have become voices of those who cannot be heard in the AI era and do not wish that this technology replace the raw talent and skill that humans possess.
The open letter also addresses how artists’ compensation and royalty pools will be diminished if AI is trained to replicate their voices
Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, Nicki Minaj, Camila Cabello, Kacey Musgraves, Jon Batiste, Ja Rule, Jason Isbell, Pearl Jam, Sam Smith, and hundreds of others hailing from various musical genres signed the open letter, with Axios reporting the following as a part of the letter’s contents:
“We call on all AI developers, technology companies, platforms and digital music services to pledge that they will not develop or deploy AI music- generation technology, content or tools that undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists or deny us fair compensation for our work.”
Additionally, Jen Jacobsen, the Executive Director at The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), the trade group that represents artists, has mentioned that they are not looking for any kind of legislation but specifically calling on technology companies and AI developers to stop the ‘predatory use of AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem.’
Assuming AI models can be trained to replicate the voices of famous or up-and-coming artists, it would result in lower compensations, not to mention a reduction of royalties, effectively severing their livelihood. The letter does mention that if AI is used responsibly, it can actually benefit human creativity, but states that developers and companies are leveraging this technology to ‘sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rights holders.’
Whether or not companies that train AI models to replicate voices take this letter seriously, there is a reality about their future that artists cannot ignore. And when their back is against the wall, a future lawsuit may ensue.
News Source: Axios