Stars from the world of pop – from Stevie Wonder and Jon Bon Jovi, to Katy Perry and Billie Eilish – have signed an open letter by the Artist Rights Alliance calling on artificial intelligence companies to stop using AI “to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists”.
More than 200 names feature on the document – which also includes the estates of Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra – which has been drafted by the artist-led non-profit.
While acknowledging the creative possibilities of AI, it addresses several threats to human artistry, including using preexisting work to train AI models, effectively replacing artists and therefore threatening to “substantially dilute the royalty pools that are paid out to artists.”
“This assault on human creativity must be stopped,” reads the letter, which is available here. “We must protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem.”
It continues: “We call on all digital music platforms and music-based 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.
“Unchecked, AI will set in motion a race to the bottom that will degrade the value of our work and prevent us from being fairly compensated for it.”
It comes after the state of Tennessee became the first in the US to pass legislation protecting music industry professionals against AI threats with the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security (ELVIS) Act.
Set to go into effect on July 1, it prevents generative AI tools from replicate an artist’s voice without obtaining consent. Similar legislation is under discussion at the federal level in Congress.
Meanwhile, Universal Music Group officials have cited TikTok’s approach to AI as a factor in their contract renewal feud, which has led to music from Universal’s catalogue being removed from the platform.
