This 1,000-artist compilation album protests against AI–and it’s completely silent
Artificial intelligence isn’t all that intelligent. No matter the program, its behavior and output are mimicry based solely on the models used to train it. The vast majority of that training comes from material created by flesh-and-blood humans: real artists, writers, scientists, and so on. That’s copyrighted intellectual property. You just can’t use the work of other people to create something that will have a machine putting those same people out of work.
The AI threat to artists is real. There needs to be guardrails. But just we’ve seen with other technological advances, the law lags behind the tech. Governments are working on the situation, but there’s a long way to go.
As a form of protest, more than 1,000 musicians released a silent album today (February 25) to protest planned changes to UK copyright law. The new laws would make it easier for AI companies to use copyrighted materials to train models without any license.
The album, entitled Is This What We Want?, is designed to raise awareness of the situation.
And yes, music fans are being asked to buy this record, even though it contains precisely naught. Well, sort of. It features recordings of empty recording studios and venues. The message is clear. The liner notes are short and simple: “The British government must not legalize music theft to benefit AI companies.” (Scroll down to see what I mean.)
Contributors include Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox, Ed O’Brien (Radiohead), The Clash, Tori Amos, Cat Stevens, and Jamiroquai.
Proceeds will be donated to Help Musicians, a UK charity. Meanwhile, we can stream it. Hey, put it on repeat and let it run through the day. That will generate streaming royalties without creating any noise.
