Rishi Sunak urged to use AI safety summit to protect UK’s music industry
Rishi Sunak has been urged to use this week’s global AI safety summit to protect the UK’s music industry from “laundering”.
Organisation UK Music has written to the Prime Minister warning of the risks artificial intelligence (AI) poses to creators and the sector’s “fragile” talent pipeline.
Chief executive Tom Kiehl called on Sunak to ensure the two-day Bletchley Park summit starting on Wednesday addresses concerns from musicians and the industry about the technology.
He said: “There is an urgent need to address the clear and present threat that generative AI poses to the creative industries and to our members’ livelihoods.”
It comes after the Prime Minister said in a speech on AI last week that “the UK’s answer is not to rush to regulate”. The music industry is not explicitly on the summit’s agenda.
UK Music has previously warned that AI firms may take part in so-called “music laundering” by using or replicating existing content without payment or consent from the creators.
Kiehl wrote in his letter that protecting copyright and ensuring AI firms have consent to use music creators’ copyright-protected work should be at the heart of plans for AI guard rails.
On copyright he stressed: “Failure to ensure this basic human right will jeopardise thousands of UK jobs and threaten the fragile talent pipeline on which the music industry relies to nurture the music professionals who are the envy of the world.”
And on transparency over consent he said: “AI platform providers need to keep an auditable record of the music used to train the machine before the algorithm can generate new music.
Meanwhile AI-generated music “should be labelled as such to protect consumers from confusion”.
He added: “It is vital for consumers, artists, and commercial businesses alike for AI platform providers to operate in compliance with the transparency principle.”
The government has been approached for comment.
A government spokesperson said: “As the culture secretary has made clear, we want to secure the UK’s position as a world leader in AI, while protecting our thriving creative sectors and the livelihoods of those who work in them.
“That’s why we are convening the AI Safety Summit this week and are working closely with stakeholders to understand the impact AI has on the music sector and creative industries.
“The Intellectual Property Office is working with industry to develop a code of practice on copyright and AI as this new technology advances.”