Katy Perry, Billie Eilish, J Balvin and more lash out against ‘enormous’ AI threats that ‘sabotage creativity’

By Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN

(CNN) — More than 200 artists, including Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, J Balvin, Ja Rule, Jon Bon Jovi, The Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry, Miranda Lambert and more, are speaking out against artificial intelligence-related threats in the music industry.

In an open letter organized by the non-profit Artist Rights Alliance, notable names across the music business are calling on AI developers, technology companies, platforms and digital music services to “cease the use of artificial intelligence to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists,” according to the letter, which was issued Tuesday by the artist-led education and advocacy organization and posted online.

The artists’ statement underscores how AI is poised to reshape creative industries – and the entire US economy – in fundamental ways that are still poorly understood, even as the technology develops by leaps and bounds and its possibilities grow.

The letter highlights AI threats including deepfakes and voice cloning, as well as “irresponsible uses of AI” such as the using AI sound to diminish royalty payments to artists and the use of musical works by AI developers without permission to train and produce AI copycats.

“We believe that, when used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to advance human creativity and in a manner that enables the development and growth of new and exciting experiences for music fans everywhere,” the letter states.
“Unfortunately, some platforms and developers are employing AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rightsholders.”

The letter urges digital music platforms and services to pledge to protect artist.

“We must protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem,” the letter says.

Among the hundreds of signatories are songwriters, celebrities and leading entertainment companies, including Billy Porter, Camila Cabello, Chuck D, Darius Rucker, Finneas, Imagine Dragons, J Balvin, Ja Rule, Jon Batiste, Julia Michaels, Kate Hudson, Kim Petras, Mumford & Sons members, Nicki Minaj, Norah Jones, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Sam Smith, Sheryl Crow, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Zayn Malik and the estates of Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra.

In a statement, the executive director of the ARA, Jen Jacobsen, said the threats of artificial intelligence are worsening already-tough working conditions for artists. “Working musicians are already struggling to make ends meet in the streaming world, and now they have the added burden of trying to compete with a deluge of AI-generated noise,” Jacobsen says. “The unethical use of generative AI to replace human artists will devalue the entire music ecosystem—for artists and fans alike.”

The potential threat of artificial intelligence is not just a concern in the music industry, and the open letter brings together a slew of A-listers to put a spotlight on the growing concern of AI in the overall entertainment business. AI protections were at the crux of last year’s SAG-AFTRA and WGA negotiations and continue to be at the center of ongoing labor union deals.

Last month, media mogul Tyler Perry halted plans on an $800 million expansion of his studio in Atlanta after seeing OpenAI’s Sora capabilities, nothing that “jobs are going to be lost.” Sora is able to generate video from text prompts.

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