The news that the government quietly abandoned plans to introduce copyright law exceptions earlier this week which would allow AI firms to use the work of songwriters without their permission must have passed me by. I very much doubt that my signature on numerous petitions against the plans had quite as much effect as contributions from the likes of Elton John, Damon Albarn and *checks notes* Simon Cowell but my reactions are of relief, obviously, and bewilderment that the government was even thinking about going down such a difficult and utterly crazy road.
My loyal reader will be more than aware of my strong belief that musicians should be fairly paid for their work, something that is clearly not the case these days when musicians have to make to do with fractions of a penny when their songs are streamed. It is harder than it has ever been for musicians to make a living from making music. The very idea that AI companies were set to acquire free access to just about all the music that has ever been made would be seen, certainly by me, as taking the piss.
AI scares the shit out of me. It’s used all the time, sometimes unwittingly, by all of us. Social media pretty well operates on the back of AI and many of its users use it as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. Some people share what is not always obviously AI music, others share videos and even AI doctored images that appear to show themselves in various guises. In terms of the latter, it is quite obvious that some Facebook ‘friends’ are unable to distinguish between what is a genuine image, photograph or video and an AI version. I am among the number to have been taken-in, on more than one occasion.
Even a minor blogger like me receives correspondence offering me AI assistance with my writing (as if I need it!!!) or the opportunity to make my own AI generated music, or to put it another way music that I will have played no role on creating, other than paying an AI company to make it for me. In terms of my writing, it may well be deeply flawed, but at least it is my own writing. I’d like to think that no one was ripped off during its creation.
In many ways, I am quite a saddo. I rarely stream music because I want the artists to be paid and even though watching TV in the modern age is an expensive business, I am not prepared to steal the work of others by acquiring what is known in these parts as ‘a dodgy stick’ (fire stick). Even if I feel I am being ripped off by Sky, Virgin or Netflix – and I am – I feel the need to suck it up and pay the going rate. And because I pay for stuff, I want it to be original and not AI-generated.
The pace of change in the technology sector is mind-blowing. The official date of the birth of the internet is considered to be 1st January 1983, even though most of us never got access to it for many years after. The first iPhone was released on 29th June 2007 – not even 19 years ago. Yet to all intents and purposes, mine is surgically attached to my hand. My whole life is on it. I can scarcely believe it wasn’t always like that.
The internet brought with it the assertion that if something is on it, then it must be true and real. To many folk, that still holds true. But we reckoned without other folk, not all of whom are well-intentioned. When something new and good comes along, there will always be people who want to make it bad, to fuck you over and to steal your money. In the case of a songwriter, allowing anyone from an AI company to steal their work seems absurd. And yet that was exactly what was intended until the government thought it through properly.
We are always being told that AI is A Good Thing and maybe it is. I am not exactly a dimwitted Luddite but I still need convincing. The person who shared this song by The Velvet Sundown on their Facebook, and so my, page, recommending this exciting new band, needs more education than convincing. Imagine allowing AI companies the chance to access everyone’s music? How the hell could you know what’s and make believe?
When it comes to technology, hard though it may seem we are still in the Stone Age. You just ain’t seen n-n-n-nothing yet. This government has everted catastrophe by not allowing AI companies to pillage the work of songwriters. I very much doubt that we have heard the last of this, not when there is money to be made and lots of it.
