– 200 musicians signed an open letter against AI music generation tools
– Artists include Billie Eilish, Bob Marley estate, Jonas Brothers, Nicki Minaj
– AI models that generate music threaten musicians’ livelihoods by using their work without permission
A group of 200 musicians have signed an open letter urging tech companies and developers not to diminish human creativity with AI music generation tools. The list of signatories includes popular artists such as Billie Eilish, Imagine Dragons, and Nicki Minaj. The letter highlights the threats AI poses to privacy, identities, music, and livelihoods, especially for struggling artists. These AI models create new music, artwork, and writing by training on existing work, making it difficult to remove one’s work from these models.
Companies like Adobe and Stability AI are developing AI music generators that use licensed or royalty-free music. However, even these tools could impact artists who create music for commercials or license beats. Musicians have historically faced challenges as technology advances, from file-sharing to streaming, which has not significantly benefited artists. The lack of satisfactory streaming royalties has made musicians wary of emerging technologies like AI.
Authors have also raised concerns about AI’s impact on creativity, with over 15,000 writers signing an open letter against generative AI. Despite these objections, tech companies continue to develop AI models that mimic and regurgitate copyrighted works without proper compensation. Legal recourse is limited, as copyright law is not equipped to address generative AI effectively.
The musicians’ letter emphasizes the need to protect against AI’s predatory use to steal artists’ voices and violate creators’ rights. The open letter from musicians and writers calls for action to halt the theft of professional artists’ work and the destruction of the music ecosystem. The artists urge tech companies to consider the ethical implications of AI tools on human creativity.