More than 400 actors, musicians, directors, writers, and other creative professionals have signed an open letter calling on the US administration to ban the training of AI models on copyrighted works. The letter is a response to the “freedom to train” AI models proposed by OpenAI and Google without permission from copyright holders and appropriate compensation.
Image source: unsplash.com
OpenAI said relaxing copyright laws would promote “freedom of learning” and help protect America’s national security. OpenAI and Google said it would help “solidify America’s leadership” in the competition with China in AI development.
The stars, for their part, see no reason to roll back copyright protections to help improve AI models: “We firmly believe that America’s global leadership in AI should not come at the expense of our vital creative industries.” In an open letter, the creatives argue that “freedom to learn” AI would undermine the country’s economic and cultural strength and weaken copyright protections, while Google and OpenAI would have exclusive rights to “freely exploit America’s creative and educational industries, despite their [already] significant revenues and available funds.”
«“America has not become the world’s cultural center by accident,” the letter says. “Our success is directly due to our fundamental respect for intellectual property and copyrights, which rewards the creative risks of talented and hard-working Americans in every state.” The letter notes that America’s entertainment industry employs 2.3 million Americans and pays $229 billion in wages annually, and provides “the foundation for American democratic influence and soft power abroad.”
Among those who signed the protest letter are such world-famous celebrities as Ben Stiller, Cate Blanchett, Paul McCartney, Guillermo del Toro, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and many other equally famous representatives of the creative professions.
Image source: techspot.com
Celebrities are protesting the issue not only in the US. The UK is set to change its copyright law, allowing AI models to be trained without permission from copyright holders or payment, unless creators opt out in advance. In protest, a group of 1,000 musicians released a “silent” album, “Is this what we want?”, containing only recordings from empty studios and concert halls. In addition, the musicians’ slogan “Make it fair” was published on the front pages of national media, calling for dialogue between the industry and AI developers.