Billie Eilish & Co.

Stars warn against the misuse of AI in music

Billie Eilish is one of more than 200 signatories of the open letter against AI abuse.

(Bild: APA/Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Coachella/AFP)

More than 200 artists have spoken out against the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry in an open letter. According to the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), the signatories of the letter published on social media on Tuesday include artists such as Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Stevie Wonder, Miranda Lambert, Peter Frampton, Katy Perry, Smokey Robinson, J Balvin, R.E.M. and Jon Bon Jovi.

Some platforms and developers are using AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rights holders, according to the ARA's letter. The US-based alliance campaigns for the rights of songwriters and musicians. "If AI is used irresponsibly, it poses an enormous threat to the protection of our privacy, our identity, our music and our livelihoods," the artists complain in the letter.

"Catastrophic" consequences
Some of the most powerful companies are using the work of musicians without permission to train AI models. This is aimed at replacing the work of human artists with huge amounts of AI-generated "sounds" and "images". This also affects the royalties of artists. For working musicians and songwriters just trying to make ends meet, this could be disastrous.

If used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to promote human creativity. If used irresponsibly, however, it diminishes the work of artists and threatens their fair remuneration. The signatories are therefore calling on AI developers, tech companies and digital music services to commit to not developing or using technology that undermines or replaces the art of musicians and songwriters.