As Artificial Intelligence continues to challenge the traditional music industry, the line in the sand between those for and against it is getting deeper by the day.
If you've been following my posts about this subject you'd know that I am not a fan of Artificial Intelligence making music for public consumption. However, this is vastly different from my saying that I am completely against AI as technology.
In a recent article published in Billboard both sides of the argument are presented mimicking the divide we see out in the world from those who are believers and non-believers alike. As with most new technologies, the legal ramifications are muddied at best and typically lag behind the real-time movement of the technology and how it's being used at any given moment.
A recent "win" for those looking to slow down or stop AI from creating content happened in the world of literature regarding a book, "Zarya of the Dawn" written by author Kris Kashtanova. Kashtanova was denied copyright protection for images she used that were created using AI technology but the rest of the content did earn copyright protection.
On the music side of things, we haven't seen a decision as clear as the one with Kashtanova's book but the conversation is ongoing as an excerpt from the Billboard article explains:
In 2019, industry leader Open AI issued a comment to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, arguing that using copyrighted material for training an AI program should be considered fair use, although many copyright owners and some other AI companies disagree.
This debate will rage on for the foreseeable future as people's livelihoods are on the line. Both sides will be affected by any and all decisions coming down from the courts regarding this heated debate. I will always side with human beings creating art with skills, passion, and emotion over machines giving someone the ability to push a single button to effectively release a song they had no creative input in whatsoever.
I realize this is a hot-button topic that may elicit strong emotions, and that's a good thing. We need people talking from opposite sides of the spectrum in order to educate everyone and hopefully come to a fair conclusion. It's my opinion that we are barely seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AI in music and art and if it's allowed to go unchecked or unchallenged, it won't be long before human beings will be reduced to becoming spectators in their own lives.
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