More than 10,000 world-renowned cultural artists, including Japanese-British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro and Hollywood actor Julianne Moore, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, signed a statement opposing the learning of generative artificial intelligence (AI) using cultural and artistic works.
According to the Washington Post on the 22nd, the statement is led by Ed Newton Rex, head and composer of Fairly Trained, a non-profit organization that supports creators against AI companies.
The statement, in one short, 29-word sentence, said, “Unauthorized use of creative works for Generative AI learning is a grave and unwarranted threat to the livelihood of those who made the works and should never be allowed.” The signatures are being collected online. The statement’s website also includes author Ishiguro, Tom Yorke of Radiohead, Björn Ulvaeus of legendary Swedish pop group Ava, Hollywood actors Kevin Bacon, Melissa Joanne Hart, Kate McKinnon, comedian Rosie O’Donnell, and American novelist James Patterson. The signatures were also joined by groups including the American Musicians Federation, the American Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), and the European Writers’ Commission. So far, 10,500 people have signed on. Newton-Rex, who led the statement, worked for British start-up Stability AI, known as “stable diffusion,” and quit the company last year after disagreeing with the policy of using existing works for AI learning.
“What we are talking about is people’s creations such as writing, art, and music,” he said. “It is inhumane for AI companies to call them ‘learning data’. “The use of AI companies’ creations should be systematically prevented,” he said. “The problem is not solved by the ‘opt-out’ method in which the company excludes the work only if the individual artist expresses his or her intention to reject it.”
“It is completely unfair to place the burden of refusing AI learning only on creators,” he said. “If the government really thought this was a good thing for creators, it would have created an opt-in system.”
In the United States, several writers have already filed copyright infringement lawsuits against AI companies such as OpenAI.
JENIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
