Scarlett Johansson and Cate Blanchett are amongst a whole lot of actors, musicians and writers backing a brand new marketing campaign accusing synthetic intelligence firms of unlawfully exploiting inventive work to coach their methods.
The marketing campaign, titled “Stealing Isn’t Innovation”, launched on Thursday with the help of round 800 inventive professionals, together with the band R.E.M. and bestselling writer Jodi Picoult.
In a joint assertion, the signatories accuse know-how firms of utilizing copyrighted materials “with out authorisation or regard for copyright regulation” to construct industrial AI platforms.
“Artists, writers and creators of all types are banding along with a easy message,” the assertion stated. “Stealing our work isn’t innovation. It’s not progress. It’s theft — plain and easy.”
The marketing campaign urges AI builders to pursue licensing agreements and partnerships with rights holders slightly than scraping inventive content material from the open internet. It additionally acknowledges corporations which have already taken that method. OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has signed licensing offers with organisations together with Disney and The Guardian, whereas Warner Music Group has reached an settlement with AI music generator Suno.
Regardless of these offers, copyright stays some of the contentious points within the AI increase. Massive language fashions and picture mills depend on huge datasets drawn from on-line textual content, photos and audio to generate responses. Many creators argue this materials is protected mental property and shouldn’t be used with out consent or compensation.
AI corporations, together with OpenAI, have countered that utilizing publicly out there information falls underneath “truthful use”, a doctrine in US regulation that allows restricted use of copyrighted materials with out permission in sure circumstances. The argument is now being examined in courts, with dozens of lawsuits filed in the US over the previous two years.
Johansson has already discovered herself on the centre of the controversy. In 2024, she accused OpenAI of utilizing a voice that carefully resembled her personal for a ChatGPT assistant, saying she was “shocked, angered and in disbelief”. The corporate subsequently eliminated the voice.
Different high-profile supporters of the marketing campaign embrace actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Breaking Dangerous creator Vince Gilligan and singer Cyndi Lauper. Gilligan beforehand described generative AI as “the world’s costliest and energy-intensive plagiarism machine”.
The initiative has been organised by the Human Artistry Marketing campaign, whose backers embrace the Writers Guild of America, the Recording Trade Affiliation of America and actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, which went on strike in 2023 partly over considerations about AI use.
The talk can also be intensifying within the UK. The federal government has confronted criticism over proposals that will permit AI corporations to make use of copyrighted materials with out prior permission until creators explicitly decide out. The know-how secretary, Liz Kendall, stated this month that ministers had been searching for a “reset” on the coverage, with an official overview anticipated to be printed in March.
As AI adoption accelerates throughout media, leisure and publishing, the marketing campaign alerts a rising push by creators to claim management over how their work is used — and to make sure that the subsequent wave of technological innovation doesn’t come at their expense.
Amy Ingham
Amy is a newly certified journalist specialising in enterprise journalism at Enterprise Issues with duty for information content material for what’s now the UK’s largest print and on-line supply of present enterprise information.
