Smokey Robinson, The Roots, and Yolanda Adams are among 800 creatives calling AI training ‘theft’, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Nearly 800 artists have signed an open letter accusing technology companies of “theft” of copyrighted work to train their artificial intelligence (AI) models.
Announced today (Jan 22), writers, musicians, and actors have all come together as signatories of the open letter from the Human Artistry Campaign’s Stealing Isn’t Innovation movement. The campaign protests tech companies’ alleged mass theft of human-created works in order to produce tools that could theoretically compete with real creatives.
“Big Tech is trying to change the law so they can keep stealing American artistry to build their AI businesses – without authorization and without paying the people who did the work. That is wrong; it’s un-American, and it’s theft on a grand scale,” one of the campaign’s message proclaims. “The following creators all agree. Do you? If so, come join us.”
“Artists, writers, and creators of all kinds are banding together with a simple message: Stealing our work is not innovation,” the document continued. “It’s not progress. It’s theft – plain and simple.”
“AI companies are endangering artists’ careers”
The organization encourages tech companies to license works and also to allow creators to opt out of their projects being subject to generative AI training.
“Real innovation comes from the human motivation to change our lives. It moves opportunity forward while driving economic growth and creating jobs,” Human Artistry Campaign senior advisor Dr. Moiya McTier said in a statement. “But AI companies are endangering artists’ careers while exploiting their practiced craft, using human art and other creative works without authorization to amass billions in corporate earnings.”
As The Guardian notes, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has signed deals with content owners including Disney and the Guardian, while Warner Music Group has struck a licensing deal with AI music generator Suno.
The tech companies argue that using material available online is “fair use.”
The Stealing Isn’t Innovation movement follows a bill enacted to protect everyday Americans, not just entertainers, from the abuses of A.I.
In January 2024, lawmakers introduced the No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas And Unauthorized Duplications (No AI FRAUD) Act. The bill establishes a federal framework to protect Americans’ individual right to their likeness and voice against AI-generated fakes and forgeries.
A number of proposed pieces of legislation to protect creators’ rights have deployed, but whether the current administration will swing more towards tech companies who think training is ‘fair use’ – and whether any legal rulings will sway that way too – remains to be seen.